Nairo Quintana will start the 2022 season with the Tour de la Provence (February 10-13), looking to replicate the success he tasted in France two years ago in his first season with Arcair Sumsic.

The Colombian will then compete in the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var (February 18-20) and the Von Ardèche Classic (February 26) before heading to Paris-Nice (March 6-13). Quintana will race outside France for the first time at the Volta a Catalunya (March 21-27).

The dissolution of Qhubeka-Assos means that Arkea-Samsic will automatically be invited to all three Grand Tours in 2022, but Quintana has not yet announced where he will race.

Initially rumored to be returning to Corsa Rosa for the first time since the 2014 Giro d'Italia champion finished second overall in 2017, his agent, Giuseppe Acquadro, has said that Quintana will be in the final year of his contract with Arkea Samsic to ride the Tour de France and Vuelta a España (open in new tab), suggesting that he is likely to compete in the Tour de France.

Quintana, who moved from Movistar ahead of the 2020 campaign, had a brilliant early season, winning the Tour de la Provence and Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var overall and winning the final stage from Paris to Nice

Corona.

When the season resumed after the coronavirus shutdown, he struggled to replicate his form, finishing 17th in the Tour de France.

He won the Vuelta Asturias in May, but struggled at the Tour, finishing 28th overall.

"The balance sheet is in pieces," Arkea Samsic manager Emmanuel Hubert told L'Équipe (open in new tab). 'In 2020 it was as expected, in 2021 not so much. So we will wait until the middle of this year's season to see if the acquisition of Quintana has worked out."

Hubert praised Quintana for improving the level of the team, suggesting that he did not always enjoy the same support that he did at Movistar.

"He did not find the same selflessness in his teammates. The self-sacrifice that Spanish team riders make for their leader bears no resemblance to that of French team riders. To be successful, Nairo should have a truly dedicated team for him, with four or five team members at his exclusive service."

Quintana will be the sole leader of Arkea Samsic in Paris-Nice, while Warren Barguil and Nasser Bouhanni will compete in Tirreno-Adriatico to prepare for Milan-Turin and Milan-San Remo, respectively.