Alejandro Valverde Discussion Thread

[jens_attacks]

what is rujano doing there?

 

[wheels of fire]

Apparently he hesitated, likely waiting for Freire, when he saw Gilbert building a gap there was no option but to go. No way that had he waited for Freire that he could've reeled Gilbert in.

I ve read his comments but the race we watched tells a different story.

It was Kolobnev doing all the chase at Cauberg, then after that Edvald did a long turn. Valverde only came to front after a failed attack and obviously he didnt pull, just pedalled looking behind as if waiting for main bunch.

Even in that circumstances, he was beaten by EBH by far in the sprint.

So two conclusions;

1-Valverde didnt have the legs to go with Gilbert,
2-Valverde didnt have the legs for the sprint even if he somehow managed to go with Gilbert

Him and Contador other Spanish riders pulling Freire would have been a better alternative.

Or as someone else said, they should have ride at the front including Freire and try to pull Valverde. They did neither and only got a 3rd spot with the second strongest team for the entire race and strongest team for the Cauberg.

 

[kingjr]

Or they should have disregarded Freire altogether and rode for Valverde from the beginning, with Contador and Rodriguez as "bodyguards", who would do nothing all day and just be there to chase down Gilbert in case Valverde doesnt manage to stick on his wheel on the last passage of the Cauberg.

 

[cineteq]

Or they should have disregarded Freire altogether and rode for Valverde from the beginning, with Contador and Rodriguez as "bodyguards", who would do nothing all day and just be there to chase down Gilbert in case Valverde doesnt manage to stick on his wheel on the last passage of the Cauberg.

IMO Purito not able to deliver either of these guys in the Cauberg was the failure. He was the only punchy rider who could have followed Gilbert's attack.

 

[wheels of fire]

JR is not a type of a rider to do chasing, riding at front or positioning his man like Leukemans.

The only guy to do that was Flecha and they spent him unnecessarly. JR could have only been effective if they brought him to the front and let him attack at the foot of the climb to force Gilbert to accelerate early.

Then Valverde following Gilberts wheel would be a nice strategy.

Spain dissapeared from the front at the most critical part of the race. Its because most of the riders they had are used to be protected riders. They always have someone to gather the team and bring them to the front.

 

[kingjr]

JR is not a type of a rider to do chasing, riding at front or positioning his man like Leukemans.
The only guy to do that was Flecha.

I'm talking about just a couple of hundred meters of chasing. Flecha is the kind of rider who is good for long chases, riding at the front of the field for hours, but after the cauberg he would probably either have been nowhere, or completely spent.

 

[ILovecycling]

I definitely respect Freire,but this is not fun either,to whinning like kid
Asfor next WC,favourites are almost the same,including Phil and Alejandro.
2000cq points is really good for Alejandro,Im so looking forward to next years ParisNice and classics.First win at Amstel and third at Liege would be nice

 

[gustienordic]

I definitely respect Freire,but this is not fun either,to whinning like kid
Asfor next WC,favourites are almost the same,including Phil and Alejandro.
2000cq points is really good for Alejandro,Im so looking forward to next years ParisNice and classics.First win at Amstel and third at Liege would be nice

I'm thinking that Valverde will have a great year next year. (Or thats at least what usually happens when a rider comes back from a suspension)

 

[orangerider]

Or they should have disregarded Freire altogether and rode for Valverde from the beginning, with Contador and Rodriguez as "bodyguards", who would do nothing all day and just be there to chase down Gilbert in case Valverde doesnt manage to stick on his wheel on the last passage of the Cauberg.

Good one , except Contador would have no chance on the Cauberg. Purito was the only one who could do it on the entire team. Valverde should've been the one being towed though. Even assuming Gilbert was out of the race for whatever reason, the Spanish pace up the Cauberg would need to be at a rate that would unhitch Freire. Else, Boonen would've been riding on the tail and whooped Freire at the line.

 

[winkybiker]

Good one , except Contador would have no chance on the Cauberg. Purito was the only one who could do it on the entire team. Valverde should've been the one being towed though. Even assuming Gilbert was out of the race for whatever reason, the Spanish pace up the Cauberg would need to be at a rate that would unhitch Freire. Else, Boonen would've been riding on the tail and whooped Freire at the line.

Belgium had it covered. Slower up the Cauberg, and Boonen wins. Faster and Gilbert wins.

 

[BigMac]

Poor Valverde, got hit by a rider in his bachwheel (yup wasn't a puncture). Cost him the Tour. Unlucky pal, at least in TdF.



Belking goin' down

 

[Dazed and Confused]

So +10 minutes on a flat stage.

Brutal stuff, but this is racing.

Response needed from Movistar now.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

HAHAHAH very nice.

 

[jens_attacks]

feel sorry for him but that's racing
i think he's so mad and him and his team will blow the race to pieces in the next week. but yeah he's like cursed, rain jacket, all kind of stupid crashes, now this...how the hell did he win that vuelta 2009? oh i remember, gesink is even unluckier than alejandro

 

[maxmartin]

lots of people are saying he should use his teammate's bike, will that really make a difference?

 

[Winnen]

The reaction on the Belkin move from Valverde was: "that is racing". I like that. However he wasn't pleased with Europacar riding as well, since they had not any GC interests.

 

[maxmartin]

The reaction on the Belkin move from Valverde was: "that is racing". I like that. However he wasn't pleased with Europacar riding as well, since they had not any GC interests.

fair enough, I could respect that

 

[richard_91]

Happened to him in the Vuelta when he crashed, so must be getting used to watching people ride of while he's on the side of the road

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

The reaction on the Belkin move from Valverde was: "that is racing". I like that. However he wasn't pleased with Europacar riding as well, since they had not any GC interests.

that is a good response. I can't stand the whiners here who think that is unfair. we might as well stop cycling if we are going to wait for crashes or flat tires.

still we saw today the final part of valverde's gt career. from now on quintana will be leader in any gt he starts. valverde's final attempt to get tour podium(pathetic goal) has failed.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

lots of people are saying he should use his teammate's bike, will that really make a difference?

yeah duh. he would be back on the bike within 5 seconds

 

[ThirdWorld]

that is a good response. I can't stand the whiners here who think that is unfair. we might as well stop cycling if we are going to wait for crashes or flat tires.

still we saw today the final part of valverde's gt career. from now on quintana will be leader in any gt he starts. valverde's final attempt to get tour podium(pathetic goal) has failed.

welcome back Ryo!

 

[JimPanzen]

I feel bad for Valverde, but I like his attitude towards the situation. I think it wasn't a smart move from Mollema to insult him during the post-stage interview.

 

[jens_attacks]

I feel bad for Valverde, but I like his attitude towards the situation. I think it wasn't a smart move from Mollema to insult him during the post-stage interview.

he didn't insult him from what i've read. yes movistar,caisse d'epargne did this too. big deal. that's racing. they shouldn't have waited. but just like i said of cours the wheel will turn. maybe even tomorrow

 

[movingtarget]

I feel bad for Valverde, but I like his attitude towards the situation. I think it wasn't a smart move from Mollema to insult him during the post-stage interview.

He was being honest. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[JimPanzen]

He was being honest. Nothing wrong with that.

Being honest can still be an insult The problem I see in his interview is that he said something like "Valverde should be the last one to whine about this..." Now if Valverede would have whined about the incident prior to this interview, you could say something like that, but I think Valverde wasn't even over the line yet.