Nairo Quintana (Movistar) said he is ready to fight in Sunday's Pyrenean stage of the 2019 Vuelta a España with the goal of upsetting Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma).

Quintana is in sixth place overall, 27 seconds behind Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana), the best positioned of the Madrid contenders for the win.

However, at the end of stage 7, Quintana has promoted Roglic, just 6 seconds behind Lopez, as the true "virtual leader" of the Vuelta.

Twenty-four hours later, after stage 8, with hundreds of Colombian fans cheering him on, Quintana again named Roglic as the rival to beat in the Pyrenees.

"We have to gain time on Roglic in the mountains because he will do better than us in the time trial," Quintana told reporters. So we want to have a good day in Andorra."

"We'll keep an eye on the weather. It might rain, but I don't think it will be a problem. But it's a very short, explosive stage, like you can't let up for even a second."

Quintana, currently sixth overall, opened with a stage win and had a rocky day in Jabalambre but bounced back on stage 7, Mas de la Costa. Last year, on the final weekend of the Vuelta, the Colombian suffered through two stages in Andorra, dropping from sixth to eighth overall.

Nor does Cortals-Dunkamp have good memories: in 2015, Quintana finished second in the Tour, nearly five minutes behind stage winner Mikel Landa on the Andorran climb.

But unlike Valverde, who crossed the finish line on stage 8 complaining that he was "freezing" and headed straight to the Movistar team bus, Quintana said he did not suffer Saturday despite the wet weather in Catalunya.

"We drove well today without any problems. Let's see what we can do tomorrow," Quintana said.

"I'm in the right frame of mind to give it my all. I feel good," he said.

So who knows if a week after his win in Calpe, Quintana will still be cheering on his fans on Sunday in Andorra.