Abu Dhabi Tour 2018, Feb 21-25

[Salvarani]

Re: Re:

Indeed promising stuff again from Julian. He is becoming such a Bala. I cant wait the epic duel in the Ardennes. Looking at Valverde form, its is almost frightening for his opponents tho..

Is there anyone except Alaphilippe maybe who could even stand a chance against him in the Ardennes? I'm having a hard time seeing any others coming close.

Dan Martin as well. Kwito in Amstel, but I dont believe him in the other Ardennes. Then you have Nibali, but I really don't believe in him.

They just gotta hope for ****** weather like 2016, then Valverde will almost beat himself.

It was probably a combination of the weather and the fact that he would do the Giro, so he might have been half a level below his best (if such a thing is possible for him).

By the way, it's very easy to forget what happened to him in last year's Tour now that he is just bull-dozing his way through the year like last year. That is one heck of a comeback.

He looking even better tbh.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

He looking even better tbh.

Hmm, he did look pretty incredible last year as well.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

So did the commentators not know who Eg is, or did they think this performance from a 23 yo neopro didn't merit a mention?

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

He looking even better tbh.

Hmm, he did look pretty incredible last year as well.

At this point in the season, he probably looks a fraction better this year, but its very hard to notice any difference... its incredible and why I am a fan.

 

[Netserk]

Seriously, Contador is 2½ years younger, why couldn't we have him at his best year after year instead??

 

[Anderis]

This is unreal from Valverde. How the hell is he winning so easily after coming back from such a serious injury and being this old.

 

[Krokro]

Re: Re:

Indeed promising stuff again from Julian. He is becoming such a Bala. I cant wait the epic duel in the Ardennes. Looking at Valverde form, its is almost frightening for his opponents tho..

Is there anyone except Alaphilippe maybe who could even stand a chance against him in the Ardennes? I'm having a hard time seeing any others coming close.

Dan Martin as well. Kwito in Amstel, but I dont believe him in the other Ardennes. Then you have Nibali, but I really don't believe in him.

They just gotta hope for ****** weather like 2016, then Valverde will almost beat himself.

To be fair, if he keeps building such form until Ardennes, there is nothing others can do. He is just a monster in these races.
Alaphilippe is the best outsider along with D.Martin for sure. Special mention for Teuns, he looks very promising in that type of effort. Kwiato is becoming a versatile beast but FW is not tailored for him. AGR as we have seen last year can be his, as well as LBL. Same for Poels.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

This is unreal from Valverde. How the hell is he winning so easily after coming back from such a serious injury and being this old.

It's incredible how quickly he has got his form back. He surely must have been back into pretty hard training by September or October to have reached this level now. I wonder if it could catch up with him later in the year though; there's no better preparation for a season than riding a GT or two in the previous year. But then again, 18 years of pro riding has probably giving him enough base to compensate.

One thing I would say though, is that the fields in the two races he's won have been really weak. He's basically had to outclimb Fuglsang and Rohan Dennis to win the races. Which you'd have expected him to do comfortably any time throughout his career.

 

[GuyIncognito]

Don't let Valverde and Eg's performances distract you from Leipheimer taking 4th today and 5th on GC. Very impressive for a 44 year old

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

So did the commentators not know who Eg is, or did they think this performance from a 23 yo neopro didn't merit a mention?

I don't know much French, but on the French broadcast I understood they were talking about Eg in the same sentence with Egan Bernal. So it has to do with Young talents, I believe.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

This is unreal from Valverde. How the hell is he winning so easily after coming back from such a serious injury and being this old.

I have heard so many times about his discipline. It could have something to do with his consistency.

We could be seeing his true talent during these times!

 

[yaco]

Ah - Ewan beat S.Yates up the mountain today.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Ah - Ewan beat S.Yates up the mountain today.

 

[Velolover2]

Formolo was almost the strongest after Valverde and Lopéz. Too bad that he had to sacrifice himself for that wheelsucker, Majka. Could have been up there with Kelderman and Ala.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga2bA9dp508

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Formolo was almost the strongest after Valverde and Lopéz. Too bad that he had to sacrifice himself for that wheelsucker, Majka. Could have been up there with Kelderman and Ala.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga2bA9dp508

Hope he'll ride the Giro

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re:

Don't let Valverde and Eg's performances distract you from Leipheimer taking 4th today and 5th on GC. Very impressive for a 44 year old

Amazing indeed

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

Indeed promising stuff again from Julian. He is becoming such a Bala. I cant wait the epic duel in the Ardennes. Looking at Valverde form, its is almost frightening for his opponents tho..

Is there anyone except Alaphilippe maybe who could even stand a chance against him in the Ardennes? I'm having a hard time seeing any others coming close.

Dan Martin as well. Kwito in Amstel, but I dont believe him in the other Ardennes. Then you have Nibali, but I really don't believe in him.

They just gotta hope for ****** weather like 2016, then Valverde will almost beat himself.

To be fair, if he keeps building such form until Ardennes, there is nothing others can do. He is just a monster in these races.
Alaphilippe is the best outsider along with D.Martin for sure. Special mention for Teuns, he looks very promising in that type of effort. Kwiato is becoming a versatile beast but FW is not tailored for him. AGR as we have seen last year can be his, as well as LBL. Same for Poels.

The only one who can even hope to come close to an at peak or close to peak Valverde at the Ardennes (Fleche and Liege) is Alaphilippe. 2016 Valverde said he was a good bit off peak for the Ardennes because of trying to peak for the Giro plus you had the weather at Liege. He still won Fleche Wallone that year. Amstel is a different beast and he's actually never won it.

 

[Koronin]

Very impressive today by Alejandro. He's a beast and is looking as good as he did last year. Almost as if he never got hurt. It's hard to realize that he's doing this after such a nasty injury. He is just amazing. He knows himself and what he's capable of and he almost always rides within what he knows he's capable of doing.

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

Formolo was almost the strongest after Valverde and Lopéz. Too bad that he had to sacrifice himself for that wheelsucker, Majka. Could have been up there with Kelderman and Ala.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga2bA9dp508

Hope he'll ride the Giro

Apparently he'll ride the Giro for gc with König or Buchmann as the 2nd protected rider.
And the Lepheimer comment was really funny.

 

[Salvarani]

Re:

This is unreal from Valverde. How the hell is he winning so easily after coming back from such a serious injury and being this old.

Hard work and dedication. He just does not slow down lol. Pretty incredible to see.

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

This is unreal from Valverde. How the hell is he winning so easily after coming back from such a serious injury and being this old.

pan y agua

 

[portugal11]

Re: Re:

This is unreal from Valverde. How the hell is he winning so easily after coming back from such a serious injury and being this old.

pan y agua

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

This is unreal from Valverde. How the hell is he winning so easily after coming back from such a serious injury and being this old.

It's incredible how quickly he has got his form back. He surely must have been back into pretty hard training by September or October to have reached this level now. I wonder if it could catch up with him later in the year though; there's no better preparation for a season than riding a GT or two in the previous year. But then again, 18 years of pro riding has probably giving him enough base to compensate.

One thing I would say though, is that the fields in the two races he's won have been really weak. He's basically had to outclimb Fuglsang and Rohan Dennis to win the races. Which you'd have expected him to do comfortably any time throughout his career.

Huh?

He also had to beat Kelderman to win today. And while we're at it, let's not forget that Valverde was handily dropped by Fuglsang numerous times in Dauphine last season. You should give more credit to the opponents he's been facing in Valencia and Abu Dhabi

 

[Eli]

Re: Re:

This is unreal from Valverde. How the hell is he winning so easily after coming back from such a serious injury and being this old.

pan y agua

Loool..I was expecting this sooner rather than later

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

This is unreal from Valverde. How the hell is he winning so easily after coming back from such a serious injury and being this old.

It's incredible how quickly he has got his form back. He surely must have been back into pretty hard training by September or October to have reached this level now. I wonder if it could catch up with him later in the year though; there's no better preparation for a season than riding a GT or two in the previous year. But then again, 18 years of pro riding has probably giving him enough base to compensate.

One thing I would say though, is that the fields in the two races he's won have been really weak. He's basically had to outclimb Fuglsang and Rohan Dennis to win the races. Which you'd have expected him to do comfortably any time throughout his career.

Huh?

He also had to beat Kelderman to win today. And while we're at it, let's not forget that Valverde was handily dropped by Fuglsang numerous times in Dauphine last season. You should give more credit to the opponents he's been facing in Valencia and Abu Dhabi

Also let's not forget that Dumoulin won the Giro last year. Kelderman was supposed to be his main helper before he got hurt. Last I check Aru was also in this race and he's a GC rider. One of the Yates twins was here the other was at Catalonia.