Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) took a big risk in today's first summit finish at the Dauphiné when the Spaniard attacked early on the final climb to chase the remaining escapees on his own. Despite getting caught a little later, the Spaniard still had enough left in the tank to finish 4th, and the Spaniard vows to continue his aggressive racing in the remaining two mountain stages.

Alejandro Valverde delivered a disappointing performance in yesterday's Criterium du Dauphiné time trial but when the peloton hit his favourite terrain in the mountains in today's fifth stage, the Spaniard was keen to bounce back. Early on, he asked teammates Jonathan Castroviejo and Eloy Teruel to join the chase work, clearly indicating that the Spaniard had big plans for the finish.

On the lower slopes of the climb, teammates Jose Herrada and Eros Capecchi rode hard to reduce the size of the yellow jersey group and with 7km to go, it was finally time for Valverde to strike. Catching teammate Imanol Erviti who had been part of the day's early move, he used up the last resources of his domestique before continuing on his own.

It was, however, not to be and the Spaniard was caught by the Richie Porte-led peloton inside the final 3km of the stage. He still had some energy left and managed to finish 4th behind stage winner Chris Froome, Alberto Contador and the only survivor of the day's escapees, Matthew Busche.

Afterwards, Valverde admitted that he had not given his all during his attack.

"I knew it was perhaps a bit too early to go alone, but the race situation, with Imanol ahead, was good for me to give it a try," he said. "I went at my own pace to open a gap, but always saving some energy because the climb wasn't super hard and you could almost see the entire ascent, so it was easy to put your eyes on the rivals. The important thing is that I had good legs and felt good."

Tomorrow's stage is somewhat easier and will give Valverde a chance to recover ahead of two tough stages on Saturday and Sunday. He promises to keep in line with his aggressive nature and ride offensively later in the week.

"The ITT on Wednesday didn't suit me well at all," he saud. "When I feel strong in the mountains, I always try to attack and offer some spectacle, and I did again today. We'll see how it goes tomorrow and try to be up-front again in the two mountain stages remaining. The preparations for the Tour are going well and that makes me gain confidence. It's obvious that Froome is a bit ahead of everyone else, especially in the ITT; in the mountains, we all are more balanced against each other."

Starting at 12.45 you can follow tomorrow's stage on CyclingQuotes.com/live.