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

[Valv.Piti]

Its always so funny trying to craft Valverde's race programme. You want him ro ride more or less everything, but you must constrain yourself. And I think thats exactly how he feels himself.

Basically, just NOT the Tour and I would be pretty happy since that means he will get to race a lot of other awesome one day and stage races. I'll add I hope he doesn't go to the shithole that is the Middle East either.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

Please no. Valverde really has nothing more to offer to that race. Paris-Nice, Flanders and the Giro in the stripes on the other hand.

I'm with you. Along with of course la Vuelta, the Ardennes and all the smaller Spanish races he loves. Oh he'll be wearing the rainbows for his home race (even if it is a small race).

Of course. Something like a few of the Mallorca races, Andalucia, Paris-Nice, E3, Flanders, Ardennes, Giro, Burgos and Vuelta would be top notch. Maybe a bit overkill tho

I'd add San Sebastian. Does he get to wear the rainbow jersey in the National Championships or does have to wear the regular Movistar kit for that? It could be overkill, but who cares.

So the question is who is the World Champ for Lombardia? Can he wear the Rainbow stripes there this year or not?

Of course Valverde will be wearing the stripes in Lombardia. He is the world champion now.

He will also ride in it in the nationals. The only thing I don't know regarding the rules of when you can wear the jersey is the European Championships. In 2016, Sagan rode in his regular Slovakian kit but this year in his world champion's jersey. But that will probably be moot since I don't think Valverde will be harbouring any plans of attending the race.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Please no. Valverde really has nothing more to offer to that race. Paris-Nice, Flanders and the Giro in the stripes on the other hand.

I'm with you. Along with of course la Vuelta, the Ardennes and all the smaller Spanish races he loves. Oh he'll be wearing the rainbows for his home race (even if it is a small race).

Of course. Something like a few of the Mallorca races, Andalucia, Paris-Nice, E3, Flanders, Ardennes, Giro, Burgos and Vuelta would be top notch. Maybe a bit overkill tho

Strade!

I forgot Clasica and Strade, auch.. its a truly awesome race, but I would honestly prefer Paris-Nice to Strade tbh. I don't think you should be racing both these races.

 

[KyoGrey]

YOU MAY WANT TO WATCH THIS VIDEO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=68_BYzBz-04

 

[Red Rick]

Question for me would be Giro for GC or for stages

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

Please no. Valverde really has nothing more to offer to that race. Paris-Nice, Flanders and the Giro in the stripes on the other hand.

I'm with you. Along with of course la Vuelta, the Ardennes and all the smaller Spanish races he loves. Oh he'll be wearing the rainbows for his home race (even if it is a small race).

Of course. Something like a few of the Mallorca races, Andalucia, Paris-Nice, E3, Flanders, Ardennes, Giro, Burgos and Vuelta would be top notch. Maybe a bit overkill tho

Strade!

I forgot Clasica and Strade, auch.. its a truly awesome race, but I would honestly prefer Paris-Nice to Strade tbh. I don't think you should be racing both these races.

I think you can do both, especially because the first stages in Paris-Nice are usually quite easy. Valverde especially has now issues regarding recovery, so for him it wouldn't be a problem. Especially if he doesn't have to ride around in Italy the night before Strade because of delayed flights.

And I would probably choose Strade over Paris-Nice if I should pick one.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

He is the greatest. For almost 20 years already. Finally got the title he could've won at least 5 times

 

[KyoGrey]

His usual calendar plus Flanders minus Tour de France is more than optimal.

So early Spanish races, Cataluña, Strade, Flanders, Pais Vasco, Ardennes and then San Sebastián, Burgos, Vuelta, WC and Lombardia.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

His usual calendar plus Flanders minus Tour de France is more than optimal.

So early Spanish races, Cataluña, Strade, Flanders, Pais Vasco, Ardennes and then San Sebastián, Burgos, Vuelta, WC and Lombardia.

I'd be a bit surprised to see him doing Catalonia, Pais Vasco and some cobbled races. After how the Ardennes went this season, think he will want a bit of a break at some point.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

His usual calendar plus Flanders minus Tour de France is more than optimal.

So early Spanish races, Cataluña, Strade, Flanders, Pais Vasco, Ardennes and then San Sebastián, Burgos, Vuelta, WC and Lombardia.

Thats another option, but the problem is the season basically is over after the Ardennes apart from La Vuelta (and Lombardia, but is it worth it?). He aint winning the WC on that parcours unfortunately.

So many options... its almost too boring to go to Cataluña and win again, for some reason I have a wet dream about him winning P-N. He was supposed to ride in 2017 (and most likely would've won given it was 2017, his best year) but got sick and demolished the sissy squad that was BMC and the rest of the contenders in Catalunya instead.

 

[Red Rick]

Last hole in his palmares is Il Lombardia.

Which could be a bit of a tactical nightmare with the flat after Civiglio

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Last hole in his palmares is Il Lombardia.

Which could be a bit of a tactical nightmare with the flat after Civiglio

Its the last big hole cause I could find a lot of races to add.

Do we know how hard that little bump is after Civiglio?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Not the last hole. He could as well have a go at Flanders again. Why not? I don't think it's completely outside his capabilities

 

[Serpentin]

Yes!!!! What a race! The emotions of Bala says it all. Im speechless!

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Not the last hole. He could as well have a go at Flanders again. Why not? I don't think it's completely outside his capabilities

What do you mean by again?

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Not the last hole. He could as well have a go at Flanders again. Why not? I don't think it's completely outside his capabilities

What do you mean by again?

Probably referring to Nibz trying it out and confused the two.

I don't think he can win De Ronde, but sure would be awesome if he would try. That and E-3 Harelbeke.

 

[Nirvana]

I'd say also Olympic RR is a big hole.
Well if you throw in Ronde also Sanremo, if Nibali has won it there is no reason he can't do the same.

This year he has also a great shot to complete the GT leader jerseys set with the murito MTT on the first stage of the Giro, and also besides that looks like there are plenty of occasions on the first week (Frascati, Cassino, San Giovanni Rotondo, L'Aquila).

And looking at minor gaps I think he cares also about Strade Bianche and Amstel.

 

[Red Rick]

Olympics are such a rarity I don't really hold it against a rider if they win it.

 

[Valv.Piti]

If he goes the more classics oriented way next year, he should totally go for MSR as well. He is absolutely flying at that time of the year and could in up in a situation like 2017 which he could win. Lots of opportunities, I hope he chooses wisely. With the introduction of the World Cup again it could be fun to see him go on a classics rampage.

 

[Keram]

Re:

Not the last hole. He could as well have a go at Flanders again. Why not? I don't think it's completely outside his capabilities

He is more than competitive at Dwars door Vlanderen but Ronde is different beast. He is more explosive than Nibali of course and he could do sharpest cobbled hills with best but on Kwaremont he would suffer big time with his 65 kg. He is too light to win Ronde imo. Top ten would be massive feat.

 

[KyoGrey]

The Lombardia that he should have won is the one that he let Dan Martin go out in the last km without chasing him.

A miscalculation he later regretted deeply.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

The Lombardia that he should have won is the one that he let Dan Martin go out in the last km without chasing him.

A miscalculation he later regretted deeply.

Definitely one of the most infuriatingly frustrating final kilometres I have ever watched.

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Its always so funny trying to craft Valverde's race programme. You want him ro ride more or less everything, but you must constrain yourself. And I think thats exactly how he feels himself.

Basically, just NOT the Tour and I would be pretty happy since that means he will get to race a lot of other awesome one day and stage races. I'll add I hope he doesn't go to the shithole that is the Middle East either.

I'm totally with you. He can win everywhere. Heck even Sagan said he can win Flanders if he'd ever just race it. Yeah, you want him to race everywhere but you also have to have restraint so you can't burn him out. I'm sure he does feel that way as well.

Yes, no Tour and no races in the Middle east. Keep him in Europe. So many races both one day and one week races that he does so well in. However, he's got to go to Flanders this year.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

The Lombardia that he should have won is the one that he let Dan Martin go out in the last km without chasing him.

A miscalculation he later regretted deeply.

That was a horrible race on so many levels. Thanks for bringing it up.

Lets hope the celebrations dont take too much time and energy and he can focus on Lombardia, its 13 days from now. I assume he will race that without Emilia and Torino as usual, thats probably the best plan.

 

[Red Rick]

I'll believe Valverde can win Vlaanderen when I see it.