Vuelta a España - Alejandro Valverde: Roglic has shown to be the strongest rider
Sep 07 2019 12:06 am CET
Photo of Alejandro Valverde © Mary Cárdenas / CyclingPub.com
Movistar's Alejandro Valverde lost some time in the 13th stage of the Vuelta a España but managed to remain in the second place of the General Classification.
The thirteenth stage of the Spanish grand tour had the potential of causing differences in the overall standings and it didn't disappoint. The favourites' group arrived together to the final stretches of the final steep climb of Los Machucos but a change of rhythm of Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic left the rest struggling behind.
Valverde crossed the finish line in the fourth position and 27 seconds behind the duo of Slovenians and remains in the second place of the General Classification. "For now, Roglic is showing to be the rider that is more in shape and the strongest one," said the World Champion at the finish line. "Because of the way that the group was moving, I could see that at any moment Roglic was going to accelerate to cause a break and that is what he did. In the end, and just after the Slovenians went away, Nairo and I tried to keep going at our rhythm and to the maximum, trying to lose as little time as possible.
"What can we do now? We will see. Today we lost some time but maybe one day we can make Roglic lose time, or maybe not. We will keep going step by step. On Sunday and Monday, we will have two key stages in Asturias."
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