Second place with only five stages to go

Completed the second block of La Vuelta a España, Alejandro Valverde remains second in the GC after two very good first weeks of race, where the world champion accumulates one stage victory in Mas de la Costa or attacks like the one on the Santuario del Acebo.

Valverde loses 2’48” over a solid Primoz Roglic and leads 54″ to the young Tadej Pogacar and 1’11” to the Colombian Miguel Ángel López. The four seem the cyclists with more options to occupy the first three positions of the podium next Sunday in Madrid. However, after the rest day on Tuesday, there will still be hard days such as Becerril de la Sierra on Thursday or Gredos next Saturday, the two stages that will define the final general of the Spanish round.

Quotes (Movistar Team): “It was quite a decent result for me after all. It wasn’t my worst day here, and not the best either, you can say. I gained 40″ yesterday and lost 23″ today; one for the other! Considering the tough route on today’s stage, 23″ is basically nothing. All major podium contenders are pretty much equal in strength, or so I feel it like. Marc did a phenomenal job to help me. Initially, he chose to carry on after Pogacar and López’s attacks, so as to help me if I could attack and bridge back, but in the end, I was actually struggling a bit. Even Roglic showed some weakness today, but just like me, he set his pace and was even able to join them. Having Marc there really helped me a lot. The rest day will help us – just like everyone, of course. Still with a chance to win La Vuelta? Well’, there’s terrain to win it, to lose it and many other things in between…”

Photo Gómez Sport