Alejandro Valverde Discussion Thread

[webvan]

The Saxo attack didn't help, without it he would have been around 5 probably. Still it's amazing how two large groups can drift so far apart when the incentives are different.

 

[Jericho]

if you drop with 80 km to go in the wind it's normal to lose 10 minutes

I agree its normal to lose that much time. You seemed to have missed my point. When was the last time a top GC guy lost 10 minutes due to a mechanical? It doesn't happen, because normally people wait up. The only time they don't wait is on crucial points of a stage (on the final climb, near the end of a sprint). And even then people usually only lose 1-2 minutes. To lose 10 minutes and 2nd place overall due to bad luck when you rode just fine is pretty crappy. If Valverde missed a split or had a bad day, that's fine. But he didn't.

If Valverde is going to target the Vuelta, he should just drop out now. No point in riding the last week. He's already ridden 2/3rds of the race hard and he'll need to conserve energy if he wants to be 100% at the Vuelta. Or he could target the King of the Mountains. He's already got some points and seems on good form. Plus, I'd doubt he'd complain about stick it to Europcar.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I agree its normal to lose that much time. You seemed to have missed my point. When was the last time a top GC guy lost 10 minutes due to a mechanical? It doesn't happen, because normally people wait up. The only time they don't wait is on crucial points of a stage (on the final climb, near the end of a sprint). And even then people usually only lose 1-2 minutes. To lose 10 minutes and 2nd place overall due to bad luck when you rode just fine is pretty crappy. If Valverde missed a split or had a bad day, that's fine. But he didn't.

If Valverde is going to target the Vuelta, he should just drop out now. No point in riding the last week. He's already ridden 2/3rds of the race hard and he'll need to conserve energy if he wants to be 100% at the Vuelta. Or he could target the King of the Mountains. He's already got some points and seems on good form. Plus, I'd doubt he'd complain about stick it to Europcar.

he didn't lose 10 minutes because of a mechnical. he may've lost 30 seconds because valverde as an idiot changed wheels instead of bikes. all that other time he lost because of the wind and happened much more often., pozzovivo in giro 2010 lost I think 15 minutes in wind

 

[IndianCyclist]

he didn't lose 10 minutes because of a mechnical. he may've lost 30 seconds because valverde as an idiot changed wheels instead of bikes. all that other time he lost because of the wind and happened much more often., pozzovivo in giro 2010 lost I think 15 minutes in wind

He could not bear to lose his special custom made and fitted bike. So he lost his GC position He must be pretty attached to his bike. Under normal situation changing wheels was okay but this was a situation where there were no cars in between as well i believe. So there was no protection available.

 

[happytramp]

Movistar attacked when Taylor Phinny crashed into a moto that had parked stupidly on the side of the road at a bend. Screw Valverde. He wouldn't have thought twice about it.

 

[silverrocket]

Movistar attacked when Taylor Phinny crashed into a moto that had parked stupidly on the side of the road at a bend. Screw Valverde. He wouldn't have thought twice about it.

Not the same thing, since Phinney was not/is not a GC contender.

 

[silverrocket]

I don't remember contador ever crahsing in a gt he won. same with evans in the tour he won. armstrong only crashed once over that paper bag or something which really was nothing. armstrong in 7 years crashed once. no other cyclist in the tour can probably say that. contador only crashed in the tour he lost

All that means is that you have good luck if you want to win a GT, and that bad luck is enough to keep someone from winning. If Armstrong hits a hole and breaks a wheel when he is riding cross-country past a fallen Beloki, he likely loses that tour. One unlucky incident and Valverde lost any chance to win this year.

Chris Froome will likely win this tour, but he too is just one unlucky incident away from losing it all.

 

[Jericho]

he didn't lose 10 minutes because of a mechnical. he may've lost 30 seconds because valverde as an idiot changed wheels instead of bikes. all that other time he lost because of the wind and happened much more often., pozzovivo in giro 2010 lost I think 15 minutes in wind

He DID lose 10 minutes because of a mechanical. He had to drop out of the main group. Even if he could have switched bikes, there's no guarantee he gets back in. Because of the mechanical it prevent hm from staying with the main group and lost 10 minutes. This isn't hard. Without the mechanical, Valverde at a minimum finishes with the Froome group. With it he loses 10 minutes. He lost 10 minutes because his bike broke at the wrong time.

 

[SafeBet]

Even if he could have switched bikes, there's no guarantee he gets back in.

He lost more than 30 seconds changing wheel.
How much do you think he loses just grabbing a teammate's bike? 10 seconds? You seriously think they don't get back in if they 10 seconds back?

They were totally unaware of what was going on and what was at stake in that moment of the race. His teammate even took a p*ss after giving him the wheel
I blame their race awareness and smartness much more than the bad luck.

 

[phanatic]

I blame their race awareness and smartness much more than the bad luck.

There's a third possibility. Valverde finally got a chance to watch Quintana's ascent of the Pailheres and decided to play clumsy mechanic at an opportune moment.

 

[IndianCyclist]

He lost more than 30 seconds changing wheel.
How much do you think he loses just grabbing a teammate's bike? 10 seconds? You seriously think they don't get back in if they 10 seconds back?

They were totally unaware of what was going on and what was at stake in that moment of the race. His teammate even took a p*ss after giving him the wheel
I blame their race awareness and smartness much more than the bad luck.

Agree. Belkin increased their pace only after they came know from their DS that Valverde had stopped. What i saw was images of Valverde when he was almost stopping. If he had quickly got going then he would have easily caught up to the rear end before Belkin increased the pace.

 

[maxmartin]

I don't understand why AV is riding ? Want to support Q in the front? He did the most of the work to drop AC and bring RP to the CF group. Although RP probably can ride back to CF by himself, but AV did make RP's job much easier. Without AV riding, CF could lose more time to Q.

 

[ILovecycling]

I don't understand why AV is riding ? Want to support Q in the front? He did the most of the work to drop AC and bring RP to the CF group. Although RP probably can ride back to CF by himself, but AV did make RP's job much easier. Without AV riding, CF could lose more time to Q.

Movifvckers tactics

 

[maxmartin]

Movifvckers tactics

When I saw that I was WTF? the only thing I can come up with AV wants to go to front to support Q, but he should realize he was dragging RP all the way. If AV just stayed at AC's wheel, I don't even think RP will reach CF that easily.

 

[Netserk]

Valverde wants to top-10 the GC.

 

[maxmartin]

Valverde wants to top-10 the GC.

Does top ten of Tour mean anything to riders like AV? Unless Moviestar has internal money bonus for top ten or high GC ranking. But the thing is riding like that did not play any favor into his teammate's hand.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Valverde wants to top-10 the GC.

what a pathetic goal, but I believe it. he'/s shown this tour to be nothing more but a joke that only cares for his own ego. he's the biggest opponent quintana faces this tour

 

[Jelantik]

I don't understand why AV is riding ? Want to support Q in the front? He did the most of the work to drop AC and bring RP to the CF group. Although RP probably can ride back to CF by himself, but AV did make RP's job much easier. Without AV riding, CF could lose more time to Q.

it just shows he wanted his own agenda. i don't get it why chase your teammate and drag your enemy domestique back to his leader. If porte wasn't around when froome needed gel, what would happen? quintana might have gotten more time off froome. So valverde is still thinking about himself.

movistar really have some weird tactic. Reading robert millar blog, looks like every team has some idiotic reason, which is doing nothing to help themselves but helping sky. LOL. They see sky is dominating, but their act is actually helping sky to win.

 

[IndianCyclist]

This will be the last tour where his say matters. he is trying to make most of it

 

[MrNovember]

heard a rabbit say:

against all odds, next year, jumping from the vegie shadow - i mean, sombrero - he's gonna snatch the vuelta.


i call it desperation.

 

[webvan]

Dunno, I haven't done the math but without the Echelon incident isn't this his best TDF ever!

 

[cesko_jr]

Dunno, I haven't done the math but without the Echelon incident isn't this his best TDF ever!

without the echelon incident he would be second with +5:02 but there was a echelon incident

 

[del1962]

I don't understand why AV is riding ? Want to support Q in the front? He did the most of the work to drop AC and bring RP to the CF group. Although RP probably can ride back to CF by himself, but AV did make RP's job much easier. Without AV riding, CF could lose more time to Q.

At the time he would not have known that Quintana was stronger though, so he had as much reason to bridge as Porte

 

[The Hitch]

Movistar 2012 Vuelta - Valverde 2 stage wins

Movistar 2013 Giro - Visconti 2 stage wins (+ 2 others)

Movistar 2014 Tour - Rui Costa 2 stage wins

 

[cesko_jr]

Movistar 2012 Vuelta - Valverde 2 stage wins

Movistar 2013 Giro - Visconti 2 stage wins (+ 2 others)

Movistar 2014 Tour - Rui Costa 2 stage wins

TTT win in Vuelta 2012