Nairo Quintana has started the long road to the Tour de France by taking what looks like third on GC at the Tour de San Luis in Argentina. His Movistar coach says he has all the attributes of a Grand Tour star, but he also has the added bonus of living at altitude.

“I’m calm and confident because I know the path to the Tour de France is really long,” Quintana told press at the finish of the final summit of the Tour of San Luis. “This race is a starting point to gain form and confidence.”

“He has the watts, the VO2, and all you need to be a grand tour star, but what sets him apart and gives him his advantage is that he grew up and lives in Colombia, and his parents come from a place higher than 3000 meters [9800 feet],” team Movistar coach, Mikel Zabala told VeloNews.

“Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali and Alberto Contador are just as gifted, but Nairo has something else in his genetic make up. At the end of a long Tour de France mountain stage, at high altitudes with everyone getting tired, that can make a difference.”

He has had steady peogression, from being Alejandro Valverde’s domestique at the 2012 Vuelta to finishing second at the 2013 Tour, where he won a stage and the White and Polka Dot Jerseys before taking two stages on route to the 2014 Giro d’Italia overall win.

“His rivals have to leave their families behind,” added Zabala. “Quintana is able to kill two birds with one stone, in a sense. He is with his family, his newborn daughter, and is training every day out his front door, at altitude.”

Quintana lives in Cómbita, 70 miles North of Bogota, in the country’s north-central. He trains on the Cordillera Oriental Mountain Range, a division of the Andes. All of this altitude training will help him adapt to the high mountains of the 2015 Tour de France: Pierre Saint Martin (1610m), Plateau de Beille (1780m), Pra Loup (1620m), La Toussuire (1705m), and Alpe d’Huez (1850m).