Teams & Riders He's coming home!!!! Alejandro Valverde comeback thread.

[portugal11]

Re:

Pantani's riding style is a big factor. If he won like Valverde, no one would consider him a legend.

For the same reason, Vino is still ahead of the Don.

chapeau

 

[portugal11]

Re:

Valverde riding the Giro is a good plan. He cant realistically win the Tur next year IMO, we assume the route will be harder and the fact he has endured such a big injury. Landa and Quintana both can win if everything goes right.

But if Valverde wants to ride the Giro + Vuelta, Ardennes and Worlds there shouldnt be any discussion really.

always the same BS... do you really think he can win the giro? he was a non factor in the 2016 giro for the gc win

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

Valverde riding the Giro is a good plan. He cant realistically win the Tur next year IMO, we assume the route will be harder and the fact he has endured such a big injury. Landa and Quintana both can win if everything goes right.

But if Valverde wants to ride the Giro + Vuelta, Ardennes and Worlds there shouldnt be any discussion really.

always the same BS... do you really think he can win the giro? he was a non factor in the 2016 giro for the gc win

He was in front of the eventual winner after stage 18 though

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

Valverde riding the Giro is a good plan. He cant realistically win the Tur next year IMO, we assume the route will be harder and the fact he has endured such a big injury. Landa and Quintana both can win if everything goes right.

But if Valverde wants to ride the Giro + Vuelta, Ardennes and Worlds there shouldnt be any discussion really.

always the same BS... do you really think he can win the giro? he was a non factor in the 2016 giro for the gc win

He cracked on one stage he knew wouldn't suit him and he was stronger in 2017 than back then...

 

[Nirvana]

Re: Re:

Valverde riding the Giro is a good plan. He cant realistically win the Tur next year IMO, we assume the route will be harder and the fact he has endured such a big injury. Landa and Quintana both can win if everything goes right.

But if Valverde wants to ride the Giro + Vuelta, Ardennes and Worlds there shouldnt be any discussion really.

always the same BS... do you really think he can win the giro? he was a non factor in the 2016 giro for the gc win

He was in front of the eventual winner after stage 18 though

And by almost a minute and an half.

Anyway where he lost the Giro is the valley between Agnello and Risoul. He was closing the gap after the descent of the Agnello and was only 10s behind Nibali/Chaves group but in that moment Scarponi stopped and started to pull and then he lost more than one minute in the valley and was the more fatigued on the Risoul climb due to the chasing so he lost more time on the climb.
If he would have catched the group before Scarponi started pulling he would have won that Giro.

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

Valverde riding the Giro is a good plan. He cant realistically win the Tur next year IMO, we assume the route will be harder and the fact he has endured such a big injury. Landa and Quintana both can win if everything goes right.

But if Valverde wants to ride the Giro + Vuelta, Ardennes and Worlds there shouldnt be any discussion really.

always the same BS... do you really think he can win the giro? he was a non factor in the 2016 giro for the gc win

The big thing are stages at high altitude, the high mountains have always been his weakness, that's where he lost minutes in the 2016 Giro, if there aren't many of those and the big mountain stages take place at moderate altitude, mostly below 2,000m of altitude, then he has a chance.

 

[Durden93]

Re: Re:

Pantani's riding style is a big factor. If he won like Valverde, no one would consider him a legend.

For the same reason, Vino is still ahead of the Don.

chapeau

Style is overrated. The goal is to win.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Re:

Valverde riding the Giro is a good plan. He cant realistically win the Tur next year IMO, we assume the route will be harder and the fact he has endured such a big injury. Landa and Quintana both can win if everything goes right.

But if Valverde wants to ride the Giro + Vuelta, Ardennes and Worlds there shouldnt be any discussion really.

always the same BS... do you really think he can win the giro? he was a non factor in the 2016 giro for the gc win

He was in front of the eventual winner after stage 18 though

And by almost a minute and an half.

Anyway where he lost the Giro is the valley between Agnello and Risoul. He was closing the gap after the descent of the Agnello and was only 10s behind Nibali/Chaves group but in that moment Scarponi stopped and started to pull and then he lost more than one minute in the valley and was the more fatigued on the Risoul climb due to the chasing so he lost more time on the climb.
If he would have catched the group before Scarponi started pulling he would have won that Giro.

Are you talking about Valverde??
The one pulling in the valley was Ruben Plaza as well. And no, Valverde had no chance at that moment either.

 

[Blanco]

Re: Re:

Valverde riding the Giro is a good plan. He cant realistically win the Tur next year IMO, we assume the route will be harder and the fact he has endured such a big injury. Landa and Quintana both can win if everything goes right.

But if Valverde wants to ride the Giro + Vuelta, Ardennes and Worlds there shouldnt be any discussion really.

always the same BS... do you really think he can win the giro? he was a non factor in the 2016 giro for the gc win

He was in front of the eventual winner after stage 18 though

And by almost a minute and an half.

Anyway where he lost the Giro is the valley between Agnello and Risoul. He was closing the gap after the descent of the Agnello and was only 10s behind Nibali/Chaves group but in that moment Scarponi stopped and started to pull and then he lost more than one minute in the valley and was the more fatigued on the Risoul climb due to the chasing so he lost more time on the climb.
If he would have catched the group before Scarponi started pulling he would have won that Giro.

Are you talking about Valverde??
The one pulling in the valley was Ruben Plaza as well. And no, Valverde had no chance at that moment either.

He had no chance because he didn't caught Nibali/Chaves group, but had he caught them he certainly would have a chance, and would finished at least 2nd overall.

 

[Blanco]

Re:

Vino is still ahead of the Don.

He's way behind.

 

[Netserk]

Palmares-wise, yes. But he is much more of a modern legend than Valverde is.

 

[Nirvana]

Re: Re:

Valverde riding the Giro is a good plan. He cant realistically win the Tur next year IMO, we assume the route will be harder and the fact he has endured such a big injury. Landa and Quintana both can win if everything goes right.

But if Valverde wants to ride the Giro + Vuelta, Ardennes and Worlds there shouldnt be any discussion really.

always the same BS... do you really think he can win the giro? he was a non factor in the 2016 giro for the gc win

He was in front of the eventual winner after stage 18 though

And by almost a minute and an half.

Anyway where he lost the Giro is the valley between Agnello and Risoul. He was closing the gap after the descent of the Agnello and was only 10s behind Nibali/Chaves group but in that moment Scarponi stopped and started to pull and then he lost more than one minute in the valley and was the more fatigued on the Risoul climb due to the chasing so he lost more time on the climb.
If he would have catched the group before Scarponi started pulling he would have won that Giro.

Are you talking about Valverde??
The one pulling in the valley was Ruben Plaza as well. And no, Valverde had no chance at that moment either.

He was only 10s behind before Scarponi started to pull and was closing the gap, if he would have catched the Nibali group he would have won that Giro.
No way Nibali could have gained the needed time with him fresher and in his group at the beginning of the climb to Risoul, even fatigued for the chasing in the valley he lost only around 50s on the climb.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

He was only 10s behind before Scarponi started to pull and was closing the gap, if he would have catched the Nibali group he would have won that Giro.
No way Nibali could have gained the needed time with him fresher and in his group at the beginning of the climb to Risoul, even fatigued for the chasing in the valley he lost only around 50s on the climb.

Agreed. Stefano Pirazzi and motorbikes also helped pull the Nibali group.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Valverde was sneaky good the last 2 stages in that Giro, the 2nd best in the race. But, but, but... he falters in high attitude! Not really apart from that super hard Dolomite stage. Its by no means unreasonable to say he would have won had he made contact with Nibali before Risoul - it were marginals..

Palmares-wise, yes. But he is much more of a modern legend than Valverde is.

In your opinion, yes....

 

[ice&fire]

Re:

Palmares-wise, yes. But he is much more of a modern legend than Valverde is.

Valverde donated his Liege prize to the Scarponi family whereas Vino donated it to Kolobnev. What a legend!

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

Palmares-wise, yes. But he is much more of a modern legend than Valverde is.

Valverde donated his Liege prize to the Scarponi family whereas Vino donated it to Kolobnev. What a legend!

One of the better posts I have seen here :lol:

 

[cantpedal]

Re: Re:

Palmares-wise, yes. But he is much more of a modern legend than Valverde is.

Valverde donated his Liege prize to the Scarponi family whereas Vino donated it to Kolobnev. What a legend!

literally laughing out loud. Not rolling on the floor but close. :lol:

 

[Velolover2]

Re: Re:

Palmares-wise, yes. But he is much more of a modern legend than Valverde is.

Valverde donated his Liege prize to the Scarponi family whereas Vino donated it to Kolobnev. What a legend!

Amazing. :lol:

 

[Red Rick]

It's not like Valverde was not dropped on the Agnello. He clearly wasn't among the three best climbers that day. Valverde lost a minute on the Agnello, and he lost more than a minute on Risoul. He lost the Giro because he got outclimbed convincingly on the stages with the biggest gaps

It was a strange Giro though. Every single one of them at one point threw minutes away by having one bad day or another. Nibali basically blew two minutes twice. I though I remembered him losing a lot more in the Corvara stage, but he saved his own bacon there pretty decently.

 

[Koronin]

Valverde has issues with altitude. He always has, and has stated as much. That has always been his issue at the Tour and was his issue at the GIro was the high altitude state. He lost over 4 minutes on that stage. He's not the best climber, he's also stated that. He also said the reason he's as good at climbing as he is is because he enjoys it. Yes he wins a lot of races with his sprint because he has a good sprint. He prefers to rely on it. I'm not entirely convinced his idea of this schedule has him targeting the Giro. In all likely hood Landa would be targeting the Giro and and Valverde would be option B. The Vuelta is another story as that race fits him much better. It doesn't typically have the high altitude that the other Grand Tours have and his abilities and skills are very suited to the Spanish races and the Spanish climbs.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Was just looking at the CQ ranking. Valverde 6th after only riding half the season. Not far from 3rd place even. He would have gone deep into the 3000+ territory this year. I wonder what next years bring

 

[Valv.Piti]

Was just looking at the CQ ranking. Valverde 6th after only riding half the season. Not far from 3rd place even. He would have gone deep into the 3000+ territory this year. I wonder what next years bring

Dont remind me of what could have been this year. Will haunt me for quite some time.

I have really no idea what next year will bring. He says he training mates are saying he is stronger than usual, but I call bull on that. I expect a level similar to that off 12/13, but better in the Ardennes. And I expect a pretty big Vuelta from him.

 

[Netserk]

Was just looking at the CQ ranking. Valverde 6th after only riding half the season. Not far from 3rd place even. He would have gone deep into the 3000+ territory this year. I wonder what next years bring

Dont remind me of what could have been this year. Will haunt me for quite some time.

I have really no idea what next year will bring. He says he training mates are saying he is stronger than usual, but I call bull on that. I expect a level similar to that off 12/13, but better in the Ardennes. And I expect a pretty big Vuelta from him.

I would love that. I fear it's more of the recently same.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Was just looking at the CQ ranking. Valverde 6th after only riding half the season. Not far from 3rd place even. He would have gone deep into the 3000+ territory this year. I wonder what next years bring

Dont remind me of what could have been this year. Will haunt me for quite some time.

I have really no idea what next year will bring. He says he training mates are saying he is stronger than usual, but I call bull on that. I expect a level similar to that off 12/13, but better in the Ardennes. And I expect a pretty big Vuelta from him.

I would love that. I fear it's more of the recently same.

Like 15-17 shape? That would certainly be lovely.

 

[Koronin]

Was just looking at the CQ ranking. Valverde 6th after only riding half the season. Not far from 3rd place even. He would have gone deep into the 3000+ territory this year. I wonder what next years bring

Dont remind me of what could have been this year. Will haunt me for quite some time.

I have really no idea what next year will bring. He says he training mates are saying he is stronger than usual, but I call bull on that. I expect a level similar to that off 12/13, but better in the Ardennes. And I expect a pretty big Vuelta from him.

I would love that. I fear it's more of the recently same.

Like 15-17 shape? That would certainly be lovely.

I think something close to 15-17 shape makes sense. He was only off his bike for a few weeks. 3 weeks after the injury they had him on a bike in the water, and it was about 1 more week after that he was on his trainer. At 6 weeks after the injury he was back out on the road riding. So even though he had a very serious injury he wasn't off his bike and out of training for that long of time. So it would make sense he can get back to where he was at when he got hurt. He may have a bit of rust to shake off in his first couple of races back, but I'd expect him to be fine by the time he gets to the end of February and definitely fine for the Ardennes. Yes look out at la Vuelta, esp if he gets the schedule he wants which is to skip the Tour.