Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team): “First things first, I want to thank my team for their great work, especially Nairo [Quintana] for his help on the final climb. We wanted to drop Primoz Roglic and Superman López, but they were very strong too and it just wasn’t possible. We’ve kept a good pace the whole time, and that helped me get this victory. I was confident I could win because I reckoned I was amongst the best four in the race. In my mind, maybe I needed this victory. Had I won or not, it would have been okay either way, but I had winning legs and I fancied victory today. It’s even more special with the rainbow jersey. There is a lot of La Vuelta left, but it seems today’s top four are the strongest of the race at this point.”
