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Alejandro Valverde says he needs to recover quickly if he is to reclaim a place on the podium before the Tour de France ends in Paris on Sunday.
The 34-year-old Spaniard dropped from second to fourth at the end of Thursday’s last of three Pyrenean mountain stages.
All that remain in this year’s Tour are Friday’s pancake flat 208km 19th stage, Saturday’s 54km individual timetrial and then Sunday’s procession to the Champs Elysees.
Realistically, it means the only chance to turn things around will be Saturday’s race against the clock, and Valverde says the most important thing for that is to recover physically, and quickly.
He had started Thursday’s stage in second place with a 34sec advantage over Thibaut Pinot but he lost 49sec to the 24-year-old Frenchman.
To make matters worse, Jean-Christophe Peraud also overtook him by just 2sec to take third spot.
But Valverde remains hopeful of finishing the Tour on the podium.
“There’s nothing in it and I’m happy to still be in the fight,” said the former Vuelta a Espana winner.
“With a difference of 15 seconds, everything is still possible. If I have good legs, I can take back second place.
“I feel tired but, in the timetrial, what matters is physical condition and having a good day.
“I’ve prepared for this challenge so we’ll see what the day brings.”
Elder statesman Peraud, 37, said he had been on the ragged edge trying to hang on to Pinot’s wheel on the final Hautacam climb on Thursday.
Widely regarded as the best of the three against the clock, he knew he was riding himself into a probable podium finish.
“Now it’s all to do in the timetrial. I believe (in a podium finish) but I was really running on empty,” he said.
“I was thinking about the podium and a possible second place and I told myself: ‘you mustn’t let Thibaut go’!”
Pinot leads the white jersey competition for best young rider by more than two minutes on French compatriot Romain Bardet.
Bardet had a tough day on Thursday and lost 39sec to American Tejay Van Garderen in the battle for fifth.
Race leader Vincenzo Nibali emphasised his dominance on Thursday with his fourth stage victory, and fifth on a summit finish.
He stretched his gap over second-placed Pinot out to 7:10, the biggest margin between the top two since Jan Ullrich beat Richard Virenque by 9:09 in 1997.
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