Volta a Catalunya winner Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) has said that he had not been expecting to put on such a stellar performance in the race, where he took three stages, the overall victory and the King of the Mountains jersey.
"I really didn't think I'd get these sorts of results," Valverde said after taking the final stage in Montjuic, where he out-sprinted a fractured peloton for his third win of the week and to crown his overall victory, the second of his career.
"I knew I was going well and above all when I was training in Andorra last week I felt really good."
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"But on the other hand I've not raced for over a month, since Andalucia, and other rivals like Alberto [Contador, second overall] had more race competition in their legs," Valverde observed.
"I thought I'd take it on the day by day but in fact my feelings, even today [Sunday], are better than they were at the start of the race."
With less than a month to go before his 37th birthday, Valverde continues to perform on a level that would be exceptional for many riders ten years younger. His winning margin in Catalunya of 1:03 is the biggest since 1996 when Alex Zülle beat ONCE teammate Patrick Jonker - and this in a race traditionally decided by seconds. On top of that, Valverde and his teammates were all penalised with a minute after Movistar's Jose Joaquin Rojas was seen giving pushes to other riders during the team time trial.
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