ALP, Spain Alex Zuelle has admitted he has no chance of winning the Tour of Spain after disappointing performances over the last two stages.
"The problem is that I'm not recovering after each stage," the Swiss rider said.
"My legs are not right. I thought it might just have been a bad day, but I have felt the same for a few days now." Zuelle, who led the event for the first eight days of the tour, came unstuck in Sunday's individual time trial in Tarragona when he trailed in more than two minutes behind Abraham Olano.
He then failed to keep up with the Peloton on the first of the mountain stages in the Pyrenees on Monday and crossed the line more than 15 minutes down on the leaders.
The Banesto rider has now dropped to 38th position in the overall standings, 14 minutes 47 seconds behind the new leader, Santos Gonzalez.
"I'm not thinking of quitting," said the 32-year-old who is completing the last year of his contract with Banesto and withdrew from this year's Tour de France.
"I want to try and recover and help the rest of the team for the remainder of the tour." Tuesday's stage will be a tough test for all the riders as they wind their way up through the Pyrenees to Andorra, encountering three demanding ascents along the 136.5km route.
(Reuter)