Spanish veteran Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), who has been critical of the roads used in the opening stage of the Vuelta a España in the Netherlands, told Spanish TV and other media after the third stage that he "had a lot of scares."

Valverde, who crashed near the finish in Utrecht on stage 2 but did not appear to be injured, expressed his frustration and disappointment in Breda on stage 3, explaining that he needed to calm down a bit, "I better take a shower before I start talking."

But he then blamed the course and also said, "Well, that's it, let's head for Spain."

Valverde, riding the final Vuelta a España, was asked about the stage race so far and said, "In general, it has been scary. If I say what I think now, it's better not to say anything, because it's better not to say anything."

Valverde was asked what exactly went wrong and whether the blame lies with the organization or the route, to which he replied, "The route? Come on, don't make fun of me. No, I'm not going to say anything because it's going to get heated. Bien, that's all."

When the reporter persistently asked, Valverde continued, "I don't know. It's as if we passed the same village seven times. I don't think there is any more village we can pass through."

Valverde said it was thanks to Movistar's teamwork that he did not crash in the third stage."

because we (the team) were able to control things incredibly well."

He also said he had no intention of complaining about the organization." With everything I just said," he concluded, "I've said more than enough."