Tour de France: Nairo Quintana plays down Chris Froome's chances

Nairo Quintana has played down Chris Froome's chances of winning the Tour de France, describing the Team Sky rider as "a little bit behind" fellow rivals Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali.

The quartet are expected to fight out a close battle for the yellow jersey over the next three weeks on a mountainous route containing six summit finishes and only two short time trials.

Froome is the bookmakers’ favourite, with Quintana second favourite, Contador third and defending champion Nibali fourth.

Froome’s credentials were enhanced by claiming two stages and the overall title at June’s Criterium du Dauphine, but Quintana, who finished second behind Contador at last month’s Route de Sud in the Pyrenees, believes Tour victory could be a step too far for the Briton.

Speaking at his Movistar team's pre-race press conference, the Colombian said: "I think [Nibali] and Contador are the favourites. In any case, they are my most dangerous rivals.

"Alberto is aiming for the Giro-Tour double [Contador won the Giro d’Italia in May] and I think he can do it. As for Chris Froome, he is a little bit behind, but I'm not ruling him out.”

Although reluctant to rank himself against his rivals, Quintana is confident he can trump them all and add a second grand tour victory to his Giro win last year.

He added: "Of course, I'm riding to win. I have prepared well as always. I like the course. There are some tough stages but I have trained hard to get over them. It should be a great Tour de France."

Quintana finished second to Froome overall and won the mountains classification in his last Tour outing, in 2013, but would have pushed the Briton much closer had it not been for his poor performances on the race’s two time trials.

However, with just one individual time trial - Saturday's opening stage - at 13.8km and a 28km team time trial on stage nine in this year's race, many people believe the course is tailor-made for Quintana, who is regarded as the best climber of the four.

He added: “I'm nervous. I'm the leader in a very strong team which expects a lot from me. If everything goes well we will ride for the yellow jersey. That's how I feel. I'm determined to win.

"They [his Movistar team] have faith in me and the proof is that a rider of the calibre of [Alejandro] Valverde is aiming to help me win the Tour de France."

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