Tour de France - Alejandro Valverde: Nairo didn't tell us anything, you'd have to ask him why
Jul 21 2019 01:52 am CET
Photo of Alejandro Valverde © Mary Cárdenas / CyclingPub.com
Alejandro Valverde managed to control the loses at the challenging 14th stage of the Tour de France. The World champion has become the highest-ranked Movistar rider in the General Classification.
Valverde was part of the favourites' group for most of the stage and at the last stretch was left alone with Mikel Landa, after Nairo Quintana dropped. The World Champion tried to keep up with the rest of the favourites, but couldn't do it until the end, but despite that, he climbed three positions in the General Classification to the ninth place.
"I think we did a pretty good stage, taking the reins of the peloton from well before the finish, trying to do our thing," Valverde explained. "Nairo wasn’t having a good day, but we didn’t know it, he didn’t tell us, you’d have to ask him why. In the end, I missed a bit of strength, but seeing the high speeds near the top, I couldn’t really continue to follow their pace if I didn’t want to crack badly.
"I lost only 57-58?, which is pretty good. A new team leader for the rest of the race? Well, I think it’s clear we’ll need a change, no? On the other hand, looking at the GC contenders, there’s no one clearly ahead of the rest: Alaphilippe was also struggling like the rest, everyone was on the limit – Pinot actually looks like he’s doing better than the others."
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