Rafael Valls proved that he is ready to play his role as key domestique for Rui Costa when he made it into the break in today's stage 9 of the Tour de France. The Spaniard may only have finished 13th but his growing condition is a relief for his Lampre-Merida team.

Rui Costa is going into his first serios test as a grand tour contender in tomorrow's big mountaintop finish and today he got safely through stage 9. Even though the day did not produce any major drama for himself, he had reason to be encouraged by his teammate Rafael Valls who showed that he is getting better after a slow start to the race.

Valls is expected to be one of Costa's most important domestiques in the mountains and today he excelled by being part of the big breakaway and finishing 13th in a very tough stage.

"Today it was important to be alert to the dangers of the difficult course, "sports director Joxean Fernandez Matxin said. "Rui has passed the stage without any problems. Only Valls ha dthe task of joining the breaks if they were big. Rafael was ready when he realized that a big group was about to go clear and proved during the stage a growing condition thta will enable him to be of valuable support for Rui in tomorrow's difficult stage."