Valverde: I'm a free agent at the Vuelta a Espana

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) was one of the better-placed top names on the opening time trial at the Vuelta a España, finishing 16th, 24 seconds down.

But despite finishing six seconds up on Movistar team leader Nairo Quintana, who summed up his time trial performance with a laconic “within what we expected,” Valverde insisted afterwards that he had no plans to overshadow the Colombian in the long-term GC battle.

“There are no two leaders here, it’s all about Nairo. I’m a free agent here, and I’m here to enjoy myself. I’m not going badly, but he’s the one who is here to do the overall,” Valverde said.

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Even so, Valverde’s rivals would do well not to let him gain too much time overall. The man from Murcia’s worst ever position in the Vuelta (discounting abandons) overall is twelfth, in 2016, when he rode all three Grand Tours. The 38-year-old also has an overall win in the race in 2009, as well as an impressive six podium finishes in his career.

With little to gain in Malaga given his apparent lack of GC ambitions, and with his appalling crash in the Tour’s opening time trial in Dusseldorf last year still relatively close in the rear-view mirror, Valverde approached Saturday’s time trial with caution.

“I didn’t take any risks. I went flat out on the flat section and the climb, but I didn’t push it on the bends because I didn’t want to fall off,” Valverde said.

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