“When one doesn’t have anything to lose, he tries, tries and tries.” Alejandro Valverde summed up, right after crossing the finish line in Ávila, the Movistar Team’s character during stage 19 of the Vuelta a España (186km), which the telephone squad grabbed by its horns all day, especially in its finale on the Alto de la Paramera (Cat-2).

“I’m not able to aim for the Vuelta anymore yet I don’t settle down, so I went on the attack again today… and why not giving it some more tries tomorrow.” The Spaniard’s repeated, strong attacks - preceeded by the pace set by Erviti, Rojas and Visconti - on the last ascent and later on, during the fast descent towards the Walls, forced Astana and Tinkoff to put all their energy at the front to catch him. Ahead of the peloton, a 24-man breakaway saw Fran Ventoso (10th) and especially Andrey Amador (4th) contes the victory, claimed by Frenchman Alexis Gougeard (ALM) after he went solo on the climb and held an impressive pace against the pursuit.

The two Blue escapees and Quintana, Valverde’s presence in the favourites’ group were an almost decisive blow to the teams’ classification from the Movistar Team, now almost 23’ ahead of Sky. In the individual GC, Quintana and Valverde remain in fifth and sixth overall before Saturday’s showdown in the Sierra de Guadarrama, a 176km trek with no serious slopes, yet with four Cat-1 climbs: Navacerrada, Morcuera (2x) and Cotos, before the final descent towards Cercedilla.