Arkea Samsic has announced that Nairo Quintana will resume his 2020 season with a one-day race, the Mont Ventoux-Denivelle Challenge, on August 6. The Colombian will return to Europe next week on a special chartered flight filled with fellow Colombian elite athletes from South America.

The Denivelle Challenge is in its second year of existence, and last season, Cofidis' Jesús Herrada beat AG2R's Romain Bardet to win the inaugural event held atop Mont Ventoux; the first climb was up to Chalet Reynard, and the second climb was over and finished at the summit The first climbed to Chalet Reynard and the second finished at the summit.

Elada and Balde are expected to return, as will Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo), Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana), and Fabio Al of UAE Team Emirates.

"With the two climbs of Mont Ventoux on the program, we have all the elements in place to witness an epic battle on an epic stage," race director Nicolas Garcela said earlier this month, adding Quintana to the start list.

The 30-year-old, who won the overall at the Tour de la Provence in February and a stage to Chalet Reynard in Ventoux, repeated the feat with a stage win and overall victory at the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var later that month, and Paris in March ～He also won the final stage from Paris to Nice in March.

Quintana will share the flight back to Europe with fellow Tour de France defending champion Egan Bernal (Team Ineos). All travelers must pass a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test for coronavirus before boarding the specially chartered flight, which leaves the Colombian capital Bogota on Sunday afternoon and arrives in Madrid, Spain, on Monday.

At the end of May, Quintana announced that preparations for the Tour de France (August 29-September 20) would include the Tour de Ain (August 7-9, starting the day after the Mont Ventoux-Denivelle Challenge) and the Criterium du Dauphiné (August 12-16)

He also had to recover from a training accident near his home in Colombia two weeks ago. Quintana was able to resume training a week later without major injury (although he did injure his knee).