UAE Tour (et. 6)

El campeón del mundo de Movistar Team -con ligera fiebre y una caída en el arranque de la penúltima etapa- resiste en el grupo de favoritos en la última etapa de montaña, donde se impuso el líder Roglic (TJV).

Despite some fever overnight and another crash just after Ajman’s start during stage six of the 2019 UAE Tour, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) was able to perform well against the biggest names in the race to remain in 2nd overall, behind stage winner and solid GC leader Primoz Roglic (TJV).

The Telefónica-backed squad’s work to improve Alejandro’s finish started well before the Jebel Jais ascent, with Jaime Castrillo controlling the gaps against a dangerous, early break and pushing hard in the approach to the climb. Oliveira, Sütterlin, Amador and Mas kept the World Champion protected until the last 10km, and in the final section, birthday boy Rubén Fernández picked up the pace for an eventual attack from Valverde, a bit down because of his illness and ultimately 5th across the line.

The day’s endeavours did not put Valverde’s second position overall into jeopardy, the #BalaArcoíris still one 145km stage away from an overall podium finish in Dubai.

REACTION / Alejandro Valverde:

“I was more or less where I expected, and on the other hand, I felt better during the stage than I what I thought I would before taking the start. It was a ‘strange’ night for me, with a bit of fever, and that’s why I feel happy with this particular result. It was a fast-paced climb, there were no real pace changes, always at a very high level, so being able to react well despite everything leaves me satisfied. The level I showed all race long was good, but I’m still lacking some bit of form. It was a beautiful race, yet a very tough one because of the wind. I didn’t really feel that bad during the climb – I wouldn’t have been able to stay there with the top guys if I were that ill – but I didn’t have my body reacting as I’d have liked to.”

Cover picture (c): Dario Belingheri / BettiniPhoto.net