Valverde's Pandera promise

"The Vuelta is not finished, I promise you," said the UCI Pro Tour leader after conceding more than one and a half minutes and the overall lead to Vino on Wednesday's mountain stage.

"Nothing is lost. Things will happen on the Pandera. You can't forget that I won here two years ago and have lots of affection for this climb."

The Caisse D'Epargne leader won the 15th stage of the 2003 Vuelta atop the monstrous Pandera climb, the same climb that awaits the peloton at the end of Stage 18 and the last major ascent of this year's race.

Valverde's sporting director, Miguel Chavarri, was also insisting that though Vino was the better rider on stage 17, the Pandera would be decisive.

"It was obvious: [Valverde] gave everything and he fell to Vinokourov who was stronger," Chavarri told French daily L'Equipe. "But that changes nothing."

"He came here to win the Vuelta, and he knows how to do it because he knows how to stay motivated. An immense spectacle awaits everybody on the roads of the Pandera."

The Kazakh rider Vinokourov (Astana) has a nine second lead over Valverde in the general classification, as either Thursday's final mountain stage or Saturday's final time trial should determine who will wear the gold jersey on the final podium in Madrid.