• Stage 15. Roglic's Jumbo keeps everything
  • Classification: This is the general of the Tour
  • Tour: All stages of the Tour of Spain 2019

Among the most recurring lies of cycling, none like the one that accompanies Alejandro Valverde before every major lap he disputes. That if he will fight in stages, that if he will dedicate himself to helping a partner, that if he will disconnect from the general classification ... When the moment of truth arrives, the Bullet does not meet any of those objectives. It's not that he doesn't want to, it's that his winning nature prevents him. So there he is, fighting to win La Vuelta with 39 and a half years, the oldest veteran cyclist of the 176 who took the exit two weeks ago in Torrevieja. In the absence of six stages for everything to end, the situation is clear: either Roglic wins or Valverde wins. There's no more.

It is not a matter, however, of being deceived or of generating false expectations. At the moment, something very rare has to happen so that the Slovenian cyclist is not the winner of this Tour. Basically, Roglic would have to suffer some unwanted misfortune in the form of illness or fall in order not to reach Madrid in red . The Jumbo governs the race with an iron hand and even luxuries such as giving a white card to his gregarious fitter , Sepp Kuss , are allowed to seek and find individual glory in the Holly Sanctuary.

"But the grandfather never says the last word," warns Valverde, who has already become the sole leader of Movistar, since he leads Nairo Quintana in more than two and a half minutes. In other words, Bala is closer to the leader than his Colombian partner, whose last function at the Movistar Theater is becoming a sad drama. "I feel tired, the body does not give more," said Quintana, as physically and mentally exhausted.

His work from now on will have to be to be close to Valverde so that the Murcian looks for Tickle to Roglic or at least consolidates his second position in the general. This Sunday, the world champion was ambitious and got its fruits, putting 41 seconds into Tadej Pogacar and Miguel Ángel López , third and fourth overall, respectively. "They are good seconds," said a satisfied Valverde.

Soler's help

It was he who dynamited the group of favorites, with a very distant attack, seven kilometers away, practically at the beginning of the ascent to the Sanctuary of Holly. "He had good legs and I wanted to try it, to see what happened." What happened was that Roglic came out to his wheel like an exhale and left with him, leaving Lopez, Pogacar, Quintana , Majka behind ... They both understood each other throughout the ascent, even Valverde publicly thanked the leader for that, and they reached the goal together. The Bullet also had the help of Soler , who dropped out of the escape after Kuss accelerated hopelessly towards the stage triumph. There was no controversy or show of Andorra's day, in which the Catalan protested angrily to receive the order to get off the hook.

Although he tried shyly, Valverde was not able to intimidate Roglic. In fact, the Slovenian seemed to enjoy a simpler pedaling on the final ramp, the novelty that has included La Vuelta a la climb al Santuario in this edition, although he did not test the forces of the world champion. «Valverde is now the main rival, the one that is closest. There are hard days ahead, so you have to stay focused on the whole team, ”said the Jumbo in goal.

The stage of this Monday, which could well be considered the queen of this edition, will be the last test of this demanding second week of the race. Especially for its last port, Alto de La Cubilla, not very demanding (6.2% on average) but rather quite long (17.8 kilometers). A type of ascension, in short, that benefits neither Roglic nor Valverde, more solvent when the hardness is concentrated in a few kilometers, as happened on Sunday or last Friday in Los Machucos. If anyone has weaknesses, it will be this Monday when they appear.

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  • sports
  • cycling
  • Back to Spain
  • Primoz Roglic
  • Nairo Quintana
  • Alejandro Valverde

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