Keep the Faith Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) could still stumble next weekend in the Sierra de Madrid, despite Vuelta a España leader Primoš Roglic's (Jumbo Visma) unprecedented strength in the Grand Tour I continue to believe that there are.

Valverde, who lost time to the Slovenian on Monday's mountainous stage, still remains Roglic's closest rival with 2:48 to go in the five days of racing.

At a press conference on Tuesday morning, the second day of the Vuelta, the 39-year-old world champion raised the glass half full before the third week.

"I certainly lost time yesterday and it wasn't my best day," he said.

"I want to go into the final week feeling optimistic." [Valverde is not only focused on defending second place. But that is only one option, he stressed.

"Anything can happen. The leader might not be in good shape, or he might lose time. The third week of a Grand Tour can be a problem for anyone," Valverde said.

"You have to be realistic and Roglic is in very good shape.

Valverde, who made the podium at the 2003 Vuelta, has had more insight into the Spanish Grand Tour than any other rider participating this year, and at age 39, he recognized that finishing second would be "a big reward anyway," if Roglic did not collapse.

Valverde expects Roglic to stumble the moment the Slovenian failed to chase Miguel Angel Lopez toward the summit of La Cubilla on Monday's 16th stage.

Roglic said he was not interested in shadowing Lopez and Tadey Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates), but was monitoring Valverde and when he noticed the Spanish veteran struggling, he immediately went after the Colombian and his countryman.

But more than Roglic's momentary inaction, Movistar's hope lies in the difficulties of the third week of the Grand Tour. The Vuelta is no exception in that regard.

That is something Tom Dumoulin, Roglic's future teammate and the last third week leader of the Dutch team that lost to Fabio Aru in 2015, knows all too well.