Carlos Betancur is not the only young Colombian to have burst onto the scene this year, with 23-year-old compatriot Nairo Quintana having done even better in 2013. Impressive early season results included winning the Tour of the Basque Country thanks to a solo attack on the Arrate climb and fourth overall at the Volta a Catalunya, where he won the summit-finish stage up to Vallter 2000. Both performances came against an elite field of climbers, and meant he arrived at the Tour de France as an outside contender for the most prestigious of all mountain prizes.

The 5’5” Movistar man did not disappoint. First he blew apart the peloton on the first of the  high mountain stages, which finished on Ax-3-Domaines, with a big solo attack. And he continued by bagging fourth place on the double ascent of Alpe d’Huez and attacking Chris Froome and Joaquim Rodriguez on the penultimate stage – on the ascent of the Semnoz – to secure second place overall, the white jersey and the mountains classification. The Colombian carried his form into the 2.HC-ranked Vuelta a Burgos too, beating Vincenzo Nibali to the pink jersey after winning the final stage courtesy of a solo attack on the Lagunas de Neila climb.