Alejandro Valverde still hasn't given up hope that he can win the Vuelta a Espana and after getting safely through today's dangerous stage, he has now set his sights on tomorrow's uphill finish on the Monte Castrove. The relatively easy climb suits him perfectly and he admits that winning the stage is one of his objectives.

Though the profile didn't suggest those difficulties, the usual scheme of Vuelta a España stages in Galicia was repeated today on the 17th act of the Spanish grand tour, over 191 kilometers from Ortigueira to A Coruña, full of small climbs and including a final route through the cobbles of the Esplanade in the city, which split the bunch and forced all favourites to keep maximum attention.

Alejandro Valverde, always well protected by his seven Movistar team-mates until that point, even went on a brief attack in the final kilometer but saw a quick response from the select group (40 riders) from which John Degenkolb (GIA) claimed his fourth stage win. Valverde made it safely into the group and kept his second place overall.

"It's true that everything was more or less under control, but even though there wasn't much stress either, the stage was really fast, there were climbs everywhere and it ended up being quite demanidng", conceded Valverde after stepping off the podium. "Tomorrow's stage is a beautiful one, but it will depend on our legs, how we're able to control the race, whether we choose to take another strategy.. we'll see tomorrow."

Stage eighteen will keep the riders rolling on rough roads in the opening part and features two tough passages of the Monte Castrove (Cat-2, 7km at 7%) in the finale - 157km that are expected to be really intense.