Good performance against the clock

Relaxed, quiet from the start of the race two weeks ago at Mont Saint Michel, Alejandro Valverde retains its position among the best cyclists in the Tour de France. The Movistar Team rider is now fifth after an admirable individual time trial in which he finished only behind Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Bauke Mollema (Trek) talking about GC men.

The stage winner was Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), the best specialist in a tough time trial of 37 kilometers, undulated and marked by a strong wind. His partner Nairo Quintana yielded only 20” more, so they are fourth and fifth in the general. British Chris Froome keeps yellow jersey.

Quotes: “We did as much as we could today. I think I fared well today; obviously, it was nowhere near to Dumoulin’s fantastic performance, but I kept the same line of the main GC contenders but Froome and Mollema. We’re still committed to the work we were supposed to do in this Tour de France. I feel satisfied: I showed again that I’ve improved in the TTs and got used to the new Canyon pretty easily – there’s nothing I can complain about today, just hope for Nairo to finish this off well.”
Photo: Movistar Team