The fight for the podium
Alejandro Valverde never gives up. His performance in the time trial to Alpe di Siusi on Sunday demonstrates his quality one more time. Just 24 hours after losing time in Corvara, he has been able to finish in third place in one of the hardest days of this Giro d’Italia, only behind the amazing Alexander Foliforov (Gazprom) and the leader Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo).
With several very tough stages still ahead, Valverde is fourth in the overall, just half a minute behind Vincenzo Nibali. Valverde and Movistar Team promise to be protagonists during the hard last week of the Italian round.
Quotes: “Yesterday’s stage wasn’t neither really bad nor good at all – just a so-so day. I’m simply not used to staying riding at high altitude for so long. I wasn’t feeling like myself. It killed me. My body felt so strange, I was a bit dizzy… it was really difficult to keep up. Today was a completely different situation. I’m happy again, satisfied to have returned to my real level. We’re still up for the fight – there’s a long way to go in this Giro, and gaps can be created everywhere.”
Photo: Movistar Team