World champion Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) shows no signs of leaving the overall contending field at the Vuelta a España.

Movistar was reportedly hoping that Valverde would gain a minute or so on the favorite, Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma), in the Pau TT.

Valverde's 13th place (1:38) was somewhat off that goal, but Valverde still moved into second place overall and 1:52 ahead of the Slovenian overall.

But with Valverde now 1:15 behind former Vuelta leader Nairo Quintana and two ahead on GC, questions about Movistar's leadership quickly surfaced when the media questioned the Murcia-born Valverde.

"Nairo, the team and I are a bit fed up with the constant questions about who is a leader and who is not," Valverde told reporters. 'One minute up, one minute down, it doesn't mean anything, they both do their best for Movistar.'

Valverde said he was pleased to have a good, if not great, time trial and was not surprised that Roglic had such a great run.

"It was clear that Roglic was the favorite to win and he proved it today," Valverde said. "Personally I felt we were doing well, but it was a long TT and a very tough one, so I felt empty at the end. So I felt empty at the end of the race.

Valverde also said that the current time loss in Roglic was more or less predictable and that the team had been expecting this situation since the race started in Alicante.

What he and perhaps no one involved in the Vuelta expected was that another Slovenian, Tadej Pogachar, would put pressure on the top four in GC from the other side of the ranking.

Valverde had words of praise for Pogachar, who is 19 years younger than him, saying, "If not for the crash on the first day, he would have been much higher in the overall. He has proven he is strong in the mountains as well."

But Valverde's main focus, of course, will be on what Movistar can accomplish in this year's Vuelta, which will be Valverde's last with Quintana, as he has done almost every September since 2012. And as in 2012, Valverde still has a chance to win.

"We will see what happens," Valverde said. But at least I got through the TT unscathed."