Movistar: 'We won't tell Alejandro Valverde to slow down'

Movistar remain committed to winning the Tour de France with Nairo Quintana, but the team certainly won't be telling Alejandro Valverde to lay off the gas.

The Spaniard is within touching distance of the yellow jersey after four stages and could go into the race lead with a good finish on the mountainous stage five.

And although the stage isn't a goal for Movistar, sports director José Luis Arrieta says he won't tell Valverde not to go for the win.

“Today's stage isn't a goal for us. But I understand that everyone talks about Alejandro Valverde because he's very well positioned on GC," he told letour.fr.

"Many riders will try and get the yellow jersey. Everything's fine for us so far. Nairo [Quintana] is also in good place.

"If Alejandro has an opportunity today, we won't tell him to slow down but we're here to win the Tour with Nairo.

"We went to reconnoitre today's stage. It's a difficult one. We have come out of two long stages. The sun shines [today] after it was cold.”

Valverde sits in third position in the general classification, fourteen seconds off Peter Sagan in yellow. The Spanish veteran wore the Tour de France leader's jersey for two days back in 2008.