Valverde manager rules out podium finish

By Clement Guillou

HAUTACAM, France (Reuters) - Alejandro Valverde's failure in the first high mountain test of the Tour de France has ruled the Spaniard out of a podium finish in Paris, Caisse d'Epargne manager Eusebio Unzue said on Monday.

Valverde, who was seen as Cadel Evans's main rival before the race, finished Monday's 156-km trek from Pau to Hautacam in 19th place, nearly six minutes behind stage winner Leonardo Piepoli of Italy.

He struggled over the last kilometres of the ascent of the Col du Tourmalet and was never allowed back by the CSC team, who cranked up the pace on the descent to end his hopes.

The Spanish champion dropped to 14th overall, 4:41 adrift of Silence-Lotto's Evans.

"For the podium, it's finished," conceded Unzue.

"It is obvious that this was not our best day, but it was not such a bad one," said Valverde.

"What happened is that some riders and teams, CSC and Saunier, were very, very strong...I was more than two minutes late at the foot of Hautacam which means that it was, of course, impossible to come back.

"Now we will analyse the situation. It's true that there are many stages left before we reach Paris, but I think that from now on, we will have to concentrate on stage wins rather than on the general classification."