Re:
jaylew said:
He'll certainly be back but the sad thing is there's a chance we may never see him at this level again.
Obviously my experience is purely my own and really has no bearing on Valverde's case, and this is just an opinion anyway, but I fractured my left knee in 2003 at age 28, and it took me over a year-and-a-half to really recover and get back to the same level. More like two years, really. (pics:
https://twitter.com/joepabike/status/881698899043508224)
The first thing I thought when I saw Bala's crash was "career-ending".
I'm completely unqualified to say that objectively, but as a fan I was devastated. Valverde is really the only rider who captures my attention and who I follow now that Vinokourov is (long) retired. So many English-speaking cycling fans online seem to hate him, but idk...that's just made me happier to cheer for him. He is such a great talent and it would be an injustice for his career to be sputtered out, somewhat like happened to Beloki after his horror crash. (Though Valverde is much more accomplished than Beloki, I readily acknowledge.)
Idk...I'm sad for Valverde and sad for us, his fans. I've really enjoyed participating in this thread over the past couple of seasons and appreciated the chance to share with you all the great joy of watching Valverde win (except Worlds and Lombardia, of course).