Nairo Quintana finished third in Sunday's final stage of the Grand Colombier to take third overall in the Tour de Ain.

The Colombian was returning from a five-month absence from racing, and was also hit by a car during training last month, hampering his preparations for the restart; after the July 3 accident, Quintana missed over a week of training and injured his left knee on the wing mirror of the car.

Quintana regained his early season form in the Tour de l'Ain, finishing in the lead group in fourth place on the second stage of L'Erex-Mont-Jura and third in the Grand Colombier behind Primoš Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and Egan Bernal (Team Ineos).

"The Tour de Ain was a good preparation race for the Tour de France," Quintana said after the race."

"It was a bit of a relief to be in contact with the best riders for two days.

The 30-year-old, in his first season with Arcair-Samsic, had an impressive start to the season, winning the Tour de la Provence, Tour du Var, and the final summit finish of Paris-Nice.

He returned to racing earlier this month, finishing eighth in the Mont Ventoux-Denivelle Challenge, and feels he is getting better as the Tour de France approaches.

"I'm recovering a little bit from the Colombian race where I was hit by a car and crashed and couldn't train for 10 days. Ventoux was my first race after lockdown. It wasn't easy to race on this slope, but I'm hoping to get better little by little.

Arkea-Samsic director Yvon Rudanova praised Quintana's race during the three-day Tour de l'Ain, adding that he is building momentum for the Tour, which begins in Nice on August 29.

"Four days after his return to racing on the Mont Ventoux road, Nairo scored a double podium in the Grand Colombier and Tour de Ain. He was right behind two of the Tour de France's most famous riders, Egan Bernal and Primoš Roglic."

"Nairo is slowly gaining momentum. We have to remember that we have more than 20 days until the start of the Tour de France in Nice. Our leader is only getting better and the signals he sends are interesting."

The only thing between Quintana and the Tour is the Criterium du Dauphiné, a five-stage mountainous race starting on Wednesday, in which he will look to improve on the three podiums he has won in previous events (second in 2013 and 2015, third in 2016).

"I will continue to work seriously and diligently, as I have done since the start of the season, before taking on another great event next week, the Criterium du Dauphiné," said Ledanois. It will be my last race before the Tour de France."