Movistar co-leaders Alejandro Valverde and Enric Mas have yet to make an impact on this year's Tour de France overall contenders, but the two Spaniards insisted at their first rest day press conference on Monday that they have not thrown in the towel yet.

Mas is currently in 12th place overall, with Valverde in 17th, 3:43 behind. After failing to make a strong impact in the first week of the Tour, Mas said his goal is to "stay in the action until the last day and finish in the top 10 or better [on GC]. There are stronger players than us, but we will do the best we can."

Valverde, the former race leader who finished third in the 2015 Tour de France and won the opening stage to Plumelec in 2008, seems more inclined to aim for a stage win in this year's race. However, he says that his aim depends on "seeing how Enric is doing" in his already supportive role.

However, neither rider has been particularly brilliant in the first Grand Tour of the season, and Movistar, with Carlos Verona's third place in the first Pyrenean stage, is the best result so far for the team that once made the Tour a joyous occasion.

Valverde, the oldest rider in this year's Tour, hinted that he feels racing 10 years down the road is a potential factor in his performance, even if he did not yet expect to retire.

"Every day I feel a little better in the races, but I'm 40 now, I'm not a kid.

"If I have to retire, I will. I'm not worried about that; I want to go until Tokyo [Olympics] in 2021, but if I don't feel like it, I won't."

Returning to the present, Valverde has put aside former teammates Nairo Quintana (Alcare Samsic) and Mikel Landa (Bahrain McLaren), or defending champion Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), Tadey Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) as the only player currently capable of giving Jumbo Bisma a real challenge in the GC battle.

On the option of winning the stage, he said, "Everyone is free to say what they want and to criticize. 'It is true that there was no break for one day. But if there are no more attacks, it is because we cannot escape and there is no point in burning out." [Valverde made no mention of the possible impact of the blockade and delay of COVID-19 on this season.

"It's the strangest race of my career," he said.