Has there ever been a case similar to Valverde?

[Hyman]

He finished 2003 as the 6th best rider of the season according to cq. Since then he has been every year on the top 4 baring 2005 where he didnt finished any GT.

Has there ever been a case of a rider performing constantly super good during 14 seasons? Has there ever been a rider coming back after a doping ban even better than he was?

I definitely think he is the biggest natural talent of this sport since the XXI century. Cant remember anything similar. He has never had a good season. All of them have been excellent since 2003...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

He was always announced as an almost unbeatable talent. And always proven it. His base level is so enormously good. Plus being able to climb and being explosive is such a great winning combo.

 

[Fernandez]

In a non specialist cycling world he would be an Eddy Merckx.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Agree with all of the above. I always think its hard to measure natural talent due to the saaaaauce, but I would point to Valverde as well. Sagan probably has the same, maybe even bigger talent, but its hard to tell and it's too early. Lets see how he performs when he is 36. There is a reason Valverde won 50 something races in a row as a youngster. Unheard off. He hardly doped at that point, no?

That's one of the reasons I argue he is the best rider in the peloton, the best of his generation. Even above Contador and Cancellara, altho I have received extremely much flag for that position. I am just a dirty Valverde-fan after all, extremely biased and fan of a doper and wheel sucker. Auch.

The only bad season he has had was 2005 as you mentioned, but that was due to knee pain's. He managed to win against Armstrong on Courchevel. Thats also something.

He has consistently been the best performer over 3 years in the pro peloton. That deserves respect, even from folks who don't want to acknowledge how big of a rider he is when its all said and done. Unfortunately, many people will probably look back and think about Contador when speaking about this generation and disregard Bala

 

[trucido]

Meh on FW, but how has he never won GdL?

 

[More Strides than Rides]

Agree with all of the above. I always think its hard to measure natural talent due to the saaaaauce, but I would point to Valverde as well. Sagan probably has the same, maybe even bigger talent, but its hard to tell and it's too early. Lets see how he performs when he is 36. There is a reason Valverde won 50 something races in a row as a youngster. Unheard off. He hardly doped at that point, no?

That's one of the reasons I argue he is the best rider in the peloton, the best of his generation. Even above Contador and Cancellara, altho I have received extremely much flag for that position. I am just a dirty Valverde-fan after all, extremely biased and fan of a doper and wheel sucker. Auch.

The only bad season he has had was 2005 as you mentioned, but that was due to knee pain's. He managed to win against Armstrong on Courchevel. Thats also something.

He has consistently been the best performer over 3 years in the pro peloton. That deserves respect, even from folks who don't want to acknowledge how big of a rider he is when its all said and done. Unfortunately, many people will probably look back and think about Contador when speaking about this generation and disregard Bala

This is a Clinic comment and reply, but don't make any assumptions just because of a rider's age.

 

[Red Rick]

One GT and 3 monuments. No doubt he's great, but he's not won many of the biggest races

 

[hrotha]

Re:

Meh on FW, but how has he never won GdL?

He's barely raced it. He's only given it a go the last few years.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re:

One GT and 3 monuments. No doubt he's great, but he's not won many of the biggest races

I agree. That is sort of what follows when a rider, like in Valve's case, is a GT/Classics-hybrid. The specialization trend is one of the reasons Valve hasn't won more of the biggest races, though.

 

[Axis]

Well, just incredible talent.

 

[Akuryo]

Agree with all of the above. I always think its hard to measure natural talent due to the saaaaauce, but I would point to Valverde as well. Sagan probably has the same, maybe even bigger talent, but its hard to tell and it's too early. Lets see how he performs when he is 36. There is a reason Valverde won 50 something races in a row as a youngster. Unheard off. He hardly doped at that point, no?

That's one of the reasons I argue he is the best rider in the peloton, the best of his generation. Even above Contador and Cancellara, altho I have received extremely much flag for that position. I am just a dirty Valverde-fan after all, extremely biased and fan of a doper and wheel sucker. Auch.

The only bad season he has had was 2005 as you mentioned, but that was due to knee pain's. He managed to win against Armstrong on Courchevel. Thats also something.

He has consistently been the best performer over 3 years in the pro peloton. That deserves respect, even from folks who don't want to acknowledge how big of a rider he is when its all said and done. Unfortunately, many people will probably look back and think about Contador when speaking about this generation and disregard Bala

Well, whatever works I guess. If you win nobody should argue with tactics. They worked. And even if it is sometimes boring for the fans of the sport to watch it, he shouldn't change his ways if they bring him that much success. Can't blame him for winning, right?

 

[May0maniac]

Maybe Rebellin (to a lesser extent) and Moreno Argentin.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Agree with all of the above. I always think its hard to measure natural talent due to the saaaaauce, but I would point to Valverde as well. Sagan probably has the same, maybe even bigger talent, but its hard to tell and it's too early. Lets see how he performs when he is 36. There is a reason Valverde won 50 something races in a row as a youngster. Unheard off. He hardly doped at that point, no?

That's one of the reasons I argue he is the best rider in the peloton, the best of his generation. Even above Contador and Cancellara, altho I have received extremely much flag for that position. I am just a dirty Valverde-fan after all, extremely biased and fan of a doper and wheel sucker. Auch.

The only bad season he has had was 2005 as you mentioned, but that was due to knee pain's. He managed to win against Armstrong on Courchevel. Thats also something.

He has consistently been the best performer over 3 years in the pro peloton. That deserves respect, even from folks who don't want to acknowledge how big of a rider he is when its all said and done. Unfortunately, many people will probably look back and think about Contador when speaking about this generation and disregard Bala

This is a Clinic comment and reply, but don't make any assumptions just because of a rider's age.

Yes, thats a clinic comment, but I felt it was necessary to prove the point. Obviously, it isn't 100%. My apologies for bringing it up in there.

 

[burning]

Re:

Maybe Rebellin (to a lesser extent) and Moreno Argentin.

Argentin had a few off years unlike Valverde

 

[trucido]

Re: Re:

Meh on FW, but how has he never won GdL?

He's barely raced it. He's only given it a go the last few years.

I'd argue that 6 times in 11 seasons hardly counts as "barely raced".

 

[Hyman]

Re:

Maybe Rebellin (to a lesser extent) and Moreno Argentin.

Well, Rebellin has been a constant rider, but bar 2004, his best season can compare to Valverde's worst. Rebellin has never surpassed the 2000 points tally on the cq ranking. Valverde has done it for 6 seasons in a row (and probably to be continued).

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Meh on FW, but how has he never won GdL?

He's barely raced it. He's only given it a go the last few years.

Yep, and when he has raced it, he's clearly been on a downward slope regarding his form. Same as at the Worlds - I don't think he's ever been quite at peak form there. Although he's extremely consistent, his form must always be tailing off slightly having done, and seriously competed at, both the Tour and the Vuelta most seasons.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

Since then he has been every year on the top 4 baring 2005 where he didnt finished any GT.

Well in 2010 and 2011 he seems to have not scored a single CQ point so your assumption is wrong.

 

[jmdirt]

Do we need multiple threads about AV, or any rider for that matter?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Joop Zoetemelk, he had a great many great seasons and kept on being one of the best until very old...

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Joop Zoetemelk, he had a great many great seasons and kept on being one of the best until very old...

Good comparison, but I think it has gotten progressively harder to dominate various races and terrains like Roche and Jalabert also, thats why I rate Valverde incredibly highly

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

One GT and 3 monuments. No doubt he's great, but he's not won many of the biggest races

This

Extremely talented rider but still he has only won one single GT and a few LBL. I don't care if he is the best rider or not, because fact is that if I was a cyclist I would definitely take the palmares of Contador, Cancellara and Boonen maybe even Nibali over his. He just misses another gt win or a win in another monument/WC/Olympics. To be fair if he manages to win the giro, olympic gold and lombardia this year (which certainly isnt impossible) I would take everything back, but right now he is just a good rider who didnt win as many big races as he could.

Nevertheless his consistency is definitely superb so (to come back to the topic title) there probably really isnt a case similar to Valverde.

 

[Red Rick]

I'd definitely take Nibali's palmares over Valverde's

I think his results at the WCRR give a great example of Valverde. (no need to do a most top 10s without win for WCRRs specifically). Up there in every classic, stage race or GT, but when the biggest prizes in cycling are for the takening, he just misses out on the biggest ones

 

[rghysens]

Re:

In a non specialist cycling world he would be an Eddy Merckx.

In a non specialist cycling world, Valverde would win far less than he does now.
He maybe the rider that benefits most of the recent decrease in (long) itt's in GT's, the focus on hilly finals in one day races and the loss of multiclimb marathon mountain stages without mtf (how much of these has he actually won?). Granted, Valverde is the ultimate youtube-cyclist, but not more than that.

 

[hrotha]

Re: Re:

Meh on FW, but how has he never won GdL?

He's barely raced it. He's only given it a go the last few years.

I'd argue that 6 times in 11 seasons hardly counts as "barely raced".

Look I wasn't entirely aware of the passage of time, no need to rub it in.

In a non specialist cycling world he would be an Eddy Merckx.

In a non specialist cycling world, Valverde would win far less than he does now.
He maybe the rider that benefits most of the recent decrease in (long) itt's in GT's, the focus on hilly finals in one day races and the loss of multiclimb marathon mountain stages without mtf (how much of these has he actually won?). Granted, Valverde is the ultimate youtube-cyclist, but not more than that.

May I introduce you to Joaquim Purito Rodríguez?