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Movistar Team's two biggest names at Frauenfeld's start comment on current form and expectations towards nine-day WorldTour event, prelude to TDF.

Mikel Landa: “It’s a very mountainous course, with tough stages and long climbs, so I hope to do well. It’s my first ever Tour de Suisse and I must go day-by-day, seeing if I’m strong enough to contest the GC or not. However, if I’m up there, I’d like to aim for the victory. I think the route is well balanced: there’s a team time trial, an ITT, mountain-top finishes – we’ve got pretty much everything we could ask for, and it’ll be a good test before the TDF. I had a bit of rest after the Ardennes classics and later went to train in altitude for three weeks, trying to do long climbs at lower intensity. My plan here is increasing that pace and getting stronger. This opening TTT will be really fast, with two small climbs in the beginning and downhill sections before the end. I don’t feel like there should be really big time gaps.”

Nairo Quintana: “I’m feeling well at the moment. I’ll surely lack some racing pace, but that’s the reason we’re racing here in Switzerland before the Tour de France: to gain some form. I’ve never raced here, but I’ve always liked this race. Hopefully I can get a good result, or at least be up there with the top contenders. Obviously we’re thinking more about the Tour at this moment, but I’d like to be contesting the race. We’ve got two time trials: the TTT, where I think we should be doing well because we’ve got a really powerful squad, and the ITT on the final day, where I hope I can defend myself well and limit my losses. My training in Colombia has gone really well, I think I got to a good level at home before coming back to Europe.”

More information on the 2018 Tour de Suisse is available on our Guide.