[dagger]

Valverde found it genuinely tough going. "I was not really good. It's the first time I've climber the Ventoux, and I can say that it's more difficult than the Pyrenean cols that I've done before. Pereiro tried to give me morale by indicating that Landis, Hincapie and Vinokourov were in difficulty. I wasn't able to catch up with him to point out that we were too."

He's got a great sense of humor.