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

[Valv.Piti]

Obviously not in great shape. His whole prep hasn't been optimal as pointed out before - he intends to peak more for the Vuelta and the Worlds, he got a little sick and wasn't amazing on the MTF that he won in Occitanie. We all hoped he would be better, but at least he is trying and he is presuring Sky which makes for some good racing that his teammates unfortunately cant take advantage off.

Hopefully he can get a tage in the Pyrenees or Massif Central. 5 possibilies left, probably only 4 with the short stage going to one of the best climbers.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Obviously not in great shape. His whole prep hasn't been optimal as pointed out before - he intends to peak more for the Vuelta and the Worlds, he got a little sick and wasn't amazing on the MTF that he won in Occitanie. We all hoped he would be better, but at least he is trying and he is presuring Sky which makes for some good racing that his teammates unfortunately cant take advantage off.

Hopefully he can get a tage in the Pyrenees or Massif Central. 5 possibilies left, probably only 4 with the short stage going to one of the best climbers.

I think, as well as bad short term prep, the lack of a GT in his legs from the previous year is a massive factor. Which unfortunately probably won't be resolved by the time of the Vuelta. You can do all the training you like over winter, but nothing will give you a base like riding at the sharp end of a couple of GTs the previous year, like he usually has.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Then you are forgetting about the 2012 Vuelta where he was great after a way, way worse Tour. People talk about Purito and Contador, but Valverde wasnt far off winning that Vuelta.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Then you are forgetting about the 2012 Vuelta where he was great after a way, way worse Tour. People talk about Purito and Contador, but Valverde wasnt far off winning that Vuelta.

That's a good point. I guess the difference maybe then was that in 2011 he was still able to ride hard all through the summer, whereas last year he wasn't able to do the hard and long efforts during the part of the season when he had been planning to do so.

 

[DBotero]

His shape looks way worse than expected.Maybe he's using this TDF as a training ride and he'll be ready when it really maters.Vuelta and the Worlds are more important than chasing a stage win here and if he doesn't improve I don't see him winning one.

 

[Moviestar]

Don't forget he didn't want to ride the Tour, he wanted to do the Giro at first. That was before Unzue came with the ''three musketeers'' plan.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Don't forget he didn't want to ride the Tour, he wanted to do the Giro at first. That was before Unzue came with the ''three musketeers'' plan.

We can be happy about his aggressiveness and hope he wins a stage, but thats all.

 

[Koronin]

His shape looks way worse than expected.Maybe he's using this TDF as a training ride and he'll be ready when it really maters.Vuelta and the Worlds are more important than chasing a stage win here and if he doesn't improve I don't see him winning one.

He actually made an off handed comment before that short French race he went to that he was going to use to the Tour to get ready for the Vuelta.

[quote="Moviestar":15c0q14u]Don't forget he didn't want to ride the Tour, he wanted to do the Giro at first. That was before Unzue came with the ''three musketeers'' plan.

We can be happy about his aggressiveness and hope he wins a stage, but thats all.[/quote]

He didn't and he made that fairly clear that he didn't want to and he's also not exactly hidden that he's not particularly happy about riding it anyway.

I'm thinking some of his aggressiveness is a matter of making the best of something he's not happy about in the first place. He did say two years ago something about wanting to go have some fun in the breakaway if other teams would let him have the freedom to do so.

What might be the craziest part of this is, being in at best race shape, he can still easily finish in the top 20 most likely the top 15 on GC without doing anything at all.

 

[Asero831]

What's wrong with him? instead of building form he is losing his form day by day.
14 mins down today

 

[Sartorius]

Well he doesn't need to peak now...It's acually very smart of him to aim his second peak for 3rd week of Vuelta and WCh. He had way too many race days every season so I hope he will be fresher this year and finally win rainbow jersey

 

[Valv.Piti]

Well he did a classic Valverde when he really isn't in shape. Same exact thing in La Vuelta 2016 in a very, very similar stage - queen stage to, yes, Aubisque. So yeah. Hoped for better today, but there is no need to completely waste and empty for 10th or 11th place.

San Sebastian next where he definitely can win, La Vuelta and WC. I think its a blessing in disguise.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Dropped by Gesink. Yikes.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Dropped by Gesink. Yikes.

To be fair, Gesink did one amazing pull right there. As I said, lets wait and see how he recovers from these efforts - the goal has been Vuelta and WC all along.

 

[Blanco]

I know that his goals are Vuelta and WC, but this Tour was his worst display as long as I can remember. In any race! Maybe only Ardennes campaign 2012 was worst, but I'm not sure

 

[SHAD0W93]

He can still try to win in Paris and hopefully he has a super peak for Vuelta, GDL, and Worlds.

 

[hrotha]

It's perfectly understandable for him to fade in the mountains if he's either FINALLY in decline or simply in not that good shape. What's inexcusable is that he let favourable stages in the first week pass him by without contending them because of some pipedream GC aspirations.

 

[Koronin]

He came into this race at best in race shape. If he's not on decent form this type of thing happens to him. Also the way he's ridden this Tour shows he's not anywhere near any kind of decent form. If this happens when he's in or near peak, then we'll talk. However he's also said this was not a goal and he started this race in at best race shape. The good stages for him in the first week he's unlikely to win against those actually are in peak form while he's in race shape.
I totally agree with Valv.Piti. Today was classic Valverde when he's racing and not in any kind of shape and probably shouldn't be racing. This isn't the first time he's done something like this. Disappointing, yes, but not exactly surprising.

 

[Blanco]

Re:

It's perfectly understandable for him to fade in the mountains if he's either FINALLY in decline or simply in not that good shape. What's inexcusable is that he let favourable stages in the first week pass him by without contending them because of some pipedream GC aspirations.

I don't think he had any GC aspirations, he just didn't had full team support on that stages cause they were protecting their two GC guys. He was basically left on his own.

 

[Blanco]

Re:

He came into this race at best in race shape. If he's not on decent form this type of thing happens to him. Also the way he's ridden this Tour shows he's not anywhere near any kind of decent form. If this happens when he's in or near peak, then we'll talk. However he's also said this was not a goal and he started this race in at best race shape. The good stages for him in the first week he's unlikely to win against those actually are in peak form while he's in race shape.
I totally agree with Valv.Piti. Today was classic Valverde when he's racing and not in any kind of shape and probably shouldn't be racing. This isn't the first time he's done something like this. Disappointing, yes, but not exactly surprising.

I can't remember last time he was in such shitty form, so I wouldn't exactly say that this things happens to him. I guess we'll need to wait for La Vuelta to get a clearer picture about his Tour ride.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

He came into this race at best in race shape. If he's not on decent form this type of thing happens to him. Also the way he's ridden this Tour shows he's not anywhere near any kind of decent form. If this happens when he's in or near peak, then we'll talk. However he's also said this was not a goal and he started this race in at best race shape. The good stages for him in the first week he's unlikely to win against those actually are in peak form while he's in race shape.
I totally agree with Valv.Piti. Today was classic Valverde when he's racing and not in any kind of shape and probably shouldn't be racing. This isn't the first time he's done something like this. Disappointing, yes, but not exactly surprising.

I can't remember last time he was in such ****** form, so I wouldn't exactly say that this things happens to him. I guess we'll need to wait for La Vuelta to get a clearer picture about his Tour ride.

Yep, I fear for his chances at the Vuelta based on this. I guess he was using the Tour partly to ride into form, but it looks like he just doesn't have the endurance base right now, and may be digging himself into a hole.

San Sebastian will be a good indicator of which way his form is going. A strong showing there and suddenly his prospects for the autumn will look a lot brighter.

 

[Moviestar]

Valverde will use the Vuelta as preparation for the Worlds. With Landa and Nairo along him, i don't think he will target the GC.

http://www.marca.com/ciclismo/tour-francia/2018/07/28/5b5c9289e5fdead14b8b4600.html

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

He came into this race at best in race shape. If he's not on decent form this type of thing happens to him. Also the way he's ridden this Tour shows he's not anywhere near any kind of decent form. If this happens when he's in or near peak, then we'll talk. However he's also said this was not a goal and he started this race in at best race shape. The good stages for him in the first week he's unlikely to win against those actually are in peak form while he's in race shape.
I totally agree with Valv.Piti. Today was classic Valverde when he's racing and not in any kind of shape and probably shouldn't be racing. This isn't the first time he's done something like this. Disappointing, yes, but not exactly surprising.

I can't remember last time he was in such ****** form, so I wouldn't exactly say that this things happens to him. I guess we'll need to wait for La Vuelta to get a clearer picture about his Tour ride.

He showed up to the Tour in bad form. You could see it in the French race he did in June and the Spanish championships. He wasn't in any sort of decent form at all. He's also stated he took a longer break off the bike after LBL and didn't even start doing any real training for the 2nd part of the season until mid June, and ended up with a cold. He also didn't want to go to the Tour. Certain comments he's made you can tell there are some major problems within that team. Not sure he really had any interest in doing anymore that he absolutely had to do either, thus showing up in what he said was race shape. I'm actually questioning if he was even in race shape at the start of the Tour.

 

[Blanco]

Re: Re:

He came into this race at best in race shape. If he's not on decent form this type of thing happens to him. Also the way he's ridden this Tour shows he's not anywhere near any kind of decent form. If this happens when he's in or near peak, then we'll talk. However he's also said this was not a goal and he started this race in at best race shape. The good stages for him in the first week he's unlikely to win against those actually are in peak form while he's in race shape.
I totally agree with Valv.Piti. Today was classic Valverde when he's racing and not in any kind of shape and probably shouldn't be racing. This isn't the first time he's done something like this. Disappointing, yes, but not exactly surprising.

I can't remember last time he was in such ****** form, so I wouldn't exactly say that this things happens to him. I guess we'll need to wait for La Vuelta to get a clearer picture about his Tour ride.

He showed up to the Tour in bad form. You could see it in the French race he did in June and the Spanish championships. He wasn't in any sort of decent form at all. He's also stated he took a longer break off the bike after LBL and didn't even start doing any real training for the 2nd part of the season until mid June, and ended up with a cold. He also didn't want to go to the Tour. Certain comments he's made you can tell there are some major problems within that team. Not sure he really had any interest in doing anymore that he absolutely had to do either, thus showing up in what he said was race shape. I'm actually questioning if he was even in race shape at the start of the Tour.

Oh I saw that
And that thing bothers me. He's practically never in shape like that, or very, very rarely. That's why I said we must wait for La Vuelta to get things clearer.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Valverde will use the Vuelta as preparation for the Worlds. With Landa and Nairo along him, i don't think he will target the GC.

http://www.marca.com/ciclismo/tour-francia/2018/07/28/5b5c9289e5fdead14b8b4600.html

Makes sense, Quintana and Landa both have a decent shot at winning the Vuelta, whereas Valverde has much better chances at the Worlds and Lombardia - which are the two gaping holes on his palmares at the moment.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Ehm... I dont know. Not sure he isn't targeting the Vuelta GC. He was targeting the Tour GC some some extent, and then now not the Vuelta? I don't really buy it, I will wait and see.