Valverde finally wins the Velo d'Or. Somewhere a bit crazy he didn't win it earlier..
https://as.com/ciclismo/2018/10/25/mas_ciclismo/1540487778_880012.html
https://as.com/ciclismo/2018/10/25/mas_ciclismo/1540487778_880012.html
Not before time! Well deserved.Moviestar said:Valverde finally wins the Velo d'Or. Somewhere a bit crazy he didn't win it earlier..
https://as.com/ciclismo/2018/10/25/mas_ciclismo/1540487778_880012.html
Justice is servedMoviestar said:Valverde finally wins the Velo d'Or. Somewhere a bit crazy he didn't win it earlier..
https://as.com/ciclismo/2018/10/25/mas_ciclismo/1540487778_880012.html
This award is over due for him. He may not have had the best year, however, I have a feeling his near career ending injury last year with the year he did have plays in to his getting the award this year.Red Rick said:Didnt expect that to be honest. Not sure I really think he had the best 2018, but he's up there and he definitely deserves it.
Not just a rumor. Confirmed by Valverde himself:Breh said:A new season, a new rumour Valverde is participating in the RvV
Yep, confirmed... in conditional tense. It sounds like he's just saying what people wants to hear and avoiding any commitment at the same time.18-Valve. (pithy) said:Not just a rumor. Confirmed by Valverde himself:Breh said:A new season, a new rumour Valverde is participating in the RvV
http://www.ciclismointernacional.com/valverde-correra-el-tour-de-flandes-2019/
Not too many strong candidates for it this year but he definitely deserved it.Moviestar said:Valverde finally wins the Velo d'Or. Somewhere a bit crazy he didn't win it earlier..
https://as.com/ciclismo/2018/10/25/mas_ciclismo/1540487778_880012.html
It's no stage of the Vuelta a Murcia, that's for sureVelolover2 said:Sanremo is also on the table, but it seems like he doesn't like that race at all.
LiquidCrystalDynamic said:Not to get too imaginative but I think people may be underrating his chances at RVV (or at least overrating Nibali's cobbled ability for comparison). For the Don to win it would not even need to be the most perfect of conditions, though he does have less ways to win that race that many competitors. And of course he is not experienced on the course or cobbles in general, but to be honest the lack of experience does not seem to bother him. I don't want to rest so much on a single 11th place but his performance in this years DDV was so impressive. He was up there trading punches with some of the best specialists in the peloton. Given better weather or preparation, well...
And as for the Velo d'Or, I don't think anyone can be unhappy with him as a winner unless you already dislike him as a rider. Valverde was consistently good from beginning to end, he had big wins, he had a lot of wins, he was always on. He had 80 race days, 14 wins, 40 top tens, and never finished outside the top 50. He present was always felt (even over the cobbles). He won the WCRR. The only caveat is that it almost feels like a lifetime achievement award, capped by the WCRR, but I think any other rider with this season would be a finalist.
Race a schedule similar to what he did for his winter/spring 2016 season when he did race the Giro. He had a classics heavy schedule that year with 2 stage races. He did Andalucia and T-A. It's highly unlikely he'll race T-A again as he wasn't happy and made a comment about he was never going to race it again as it was a waste of his time. Remember that is the year they cancelled the only climbing stage and Nibali spent a bunch of time complaining about that.WheelofGear said:If he wants to race all the classics AND the Giro, he should cut out some of the one-week races out of the calender.
Start with the Spanish opening classics and Valenciana. Skip UAE and ride Omloop Het Nieuwsblad as a Ronde recon training instead. Then go to Italy and ride Strade Bianche, rest and come back for Milano-Sanremo. He could even use M-S as prep race for Catalunya.
After Catalunya, he can ride Dwars (without going too deep) followed by De Ronde. And then take a break until Amstel Gold Race.
LmaoGuyIncognito said:It's no stage of the Vuelta a Murcia, that's for sureVelolover2 said:Sanremo is also on the table, but it seems like he doesn't like that race at all.
I doubt he would travel all the way to race DDV in horrible conditions just right after having won Catalunya if he didn't care about the cobbled classics.Bardamu said:He probably won't race it, he always answers politely to the Flemish press saying he "would like to race it once in his life", but he doesn't really care.
I think the 2nd one is more telling than the 1st one. Quite a few riders were in DDV for 'cobbles' last year.Velolover2 said:I doubt he would travel all the way to race DDV in horrible conditions just right after having won Catalunya if he didn't care about the cobbled classics.Bardamu said:He probably won't race it, he always answers politely to the Flemish press saying he "would like to race it once in his life", but he doesn't really care.
But it's kinda frustrating that he was skipping De Ronde in favor of Gran Premio Miguel Indurain when he was in beastmode-shape. :lol:
I don't necessarily think this is true as he does rule out ever riding Paris-Roubaix. Why not just do the same with Flanders if that's what he really thinks?Bardamu said:He probably won't race it, he always answers politely to the Flemish press saying he "would like to race it once in his life", but he doesn't really care.
Velolover2 said:I doubt he would travel all the way to race DDV in horrible conditions just right after having won Catalunya if he didn't care about the cobbled classics.Bardamu said:He probably won't race it, he always answers politely to the Flemish press saying he "would like to race it once in his life", but he doesn't really care.
But it's kinda frustrating that he was skipping De Ronde in favor of Gran Premio Miguel Indurain when he was in beastmode-shape. :lol:
True, and I'm not saying he would be able to contend in Roubaix, but he looked like a fish in the water on the Roubaix stage of the Tour. And even though all the GC contenders survived, no-one (bar perhaps Thomas) looked as much at ease as Valverde.Red Rick said:There's also a bit of a difference in interest in terms of what fans and experts believe he can do in the race. Valverde at Roubaix would be a curiosity, but nobody would expect too much from him, whereas in De Ronde, people are much more likely to expect him to be a legit contender to make the very pointy end of the race.
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