Friday's summit finish at Mas de la Costa confirmed that Nairo Quintana (Movistar) is a force to be reckoned with in this year's Vuelta a España, despite his erratic climbing performance in Jabalambre two days earlier.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) eventually took the stage win and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana ProTeam) became the new leader of the Vuelta, but there is no doubt which of the four frontrunners climbed the brutally steep 4km climb most aggressively.

"I lost count of the number of attacks," said Quintana after the race, who won the same climb on the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana but finished only fourth in the Vuelta's seventh stage.

"I was there for Alejandro. He was in good shape and we were discussing tactics. He was in good shape and we were discussing tactics.

Quintana agreed with Valverde's description of the team's tactics at Mas de la Costa, saying that Valverde's role was primarily to distance himself from the remaining GC rivals following the four leaders, and his repeated acceleration was perfectly accomplished.

"I wanted to attack to see what would happen to my rivals, but Alejandro ended it all," Quintana said.

As for who was the leader, Quintana stuck to the line he had told journalists 24 hours earlier.

"Alejandro is better than me overall, he is in better shape, and I won't change what I said.

When asked by a journalist if there were two leaders on the team, he replied.

"I'm not throwing in the towel, they are both strong and if they can run with the feeling they had today, we'll see what they can do."

Quintana described Jumbo Visma's Primoz Roglic, who finished second in the stage and moved into second place overall, as "the de facto leader for now, with the time trial coming up."

But even if he continues to insist that he is "here for Alejandro," Quintana's GC options remain intact.