Quintana took maximum King of the Mountain points on the Col du Pre and Cormet de Roselend to go with his earlier second-placed finish in the first-category Col des Saisies.
The impressive points total catapulted the Colombian into a prominent position near the midway point of the Tour and, with his general classification hopes likely over, will now turn his attention towards staying there.
“I am happy, the overall classification was always hard for me this year because of the two time trials,” Quintana told French TV after the race.
“So, I’m going to fight for the mountains jersey and see if we can get a stage win with Warren [Barguil] or Nacer [Bouhanni].
“I had a bit of a crisis on the last climb. It was a big effort right from the start of the race, and I was pretty much dead when we started to go up it.”
“It’s [the KOM] a very prestigious classification,” he added. “It’s important for the sponsor and for the team.
“We’ve been looking for it, we’ve got it and now we’ll defend it, with as much energy as we can muster.”
Quintana currently leads Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation) by eight points in the overall climb rankings, with the 31-year-old looking to win his first polka-dot title since his Tour de France debut in 2013.
The Tour de France will take a well-earned rest day before returning for Stage 10 this Tuesday evening from 8:30pm (AEST) on SBS, SBS On Demand and the SKODA Tour Tracker app.
