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

[Valv.Piti]

8th in a 258km bike race against and in front of most of the best riders in the world, that's nothing to be ashamed of. Age is catching up, we see it, but he's still showing the young guns his back wheel. First Spaniard today. As long as it remains that way, Valverde will feel compelled to wear his national team jersey in Tokyo. He sees the writing on the wall, but there's no better exit than to pull a Vino. And if Valverde does that, what an exclamation point and a decisive argument that he, not Contador, is the best Spanish rider of his generation. Although one may argue that The Don has raced at the top for basically two generations.

I feel like there would literally be no argument for Contador > Valverde if he wins Tokyo, but that seems very, very far fetched at this point..

 

[Tonton]

Yes, but it's worth a shot. And if you keep being the country's best rider, you may feel obligated to go along. Fans will push him. I see a lot of incentives. And after today, no one can say that The Don is done. Heck, he finished ahead of next Giro winner Nibali (according to the forum).

 

[Koronin]

Yes, but it's worth a shot. And if you keep being the country's best rider, you may feel obligated to go along. Fans will push him. I see a lot of incentives. And after today, no one can say that The Don is done. Heck, he finished ahead of next Giro winner Nibali (according to the forum).

Tokyo is a more mountainous course which by next year will very likely suit Mas and Landa better.

 

[Tonton]

Tokyo is a more mountainous course which by next year will very likely suit Mas and Landa better.

Meh, meh, meh. It's a course that can get a 10 man group to the line, no difficult enough to crown a pure climber. I like Landa way more than I like Valverde, Mas is a hit or miss for me. Be there, take the right wheel, outsprint the other nine. If Balaphilippe is one of the nine, that could be problematic. Except that people won't watch Valverde as closely as they would when he dominated. Conjectures...but if he gets there, Valverde can win.

 

[Koronin]

Meh, meh, meh. It's a course that can get a 10 man group to the line, no difficult enough to crown a pure climber. I like Landa way more than I like Valverde, Mas is a hit or miss for me. Be there, take the right wheel, outsprint the other nine. If Balaphilippe is one of the nine, that could be problematic. Except that people won't watch Valverde as closely as they would when he dominated. Conjectures...but if he gets there, Valverde can win.

Unless his form is markedly better next year than we've seen any sign of this year, he has no shot at winning and won't go. He hasn't shown anything this year to even say he's capable of winning any race at all. As I said he sounded discouraged after today's race. At this point they don't have to watch Valverde. He doesn't have the ability to do anything more than what we've seen currently and it doesn't look promising that he will have better form than he had today, which is not close to good enough.

 

[Tonton]

Unless his form is markedly better next year than we've seen any sign of this year, he has no shot at winning and won't go. He hasn't shown anything this year to even say he's capable of winning any race at all. As I said he sounded discouraged after today's race. At this point they don't have to watch Valverde. He doesn't have the ability to do anything more than what we've seen currently and it doesn't look promising that he will have better form than he had today, which is not close to good enough.

Not good enough to dominate, still good enough to win, particularly when others have a target on their back and you don't. 8th today: you don't suck. Just sayin'.

But you know,
There's always a rider to follow,
He flies high and he goes low,
Tibo, Tibo, Tibo

 

[Koronin]

Not good enough to dominate, still good enough to win, particularly when others have a target on their back and you don't. 8th today: you don't suck. Just sayin'.

But you know,
There's always a rider to follow,
He flies high and he goes low,
Tibo, Tibo, Tibo

I'm not sure he is still good enough to win. With his current form he's not. By the way, not good enough to dominate is what led Mario Lemieux to retire the second time. He was still one of the top players in the NHL at the time, but wasn't dominate. He could have played another 4 to 5 years.

Now if Tibo doesn't focus on the Tour next year he actually has a chance to win the Olympics.

 

[Amazinmets87]

8th place today is slightly misleading; he was in the second group. The final climb directly suited his (former?) capabilities.

 

[Amazinmets87]

I just looked at the Vuelta route. I can't wait to see Valverde on the final ramp of the ITT!

First week looks good for him as well. He can easily ninja a top 5.

 

[Koronin]

8th place today is slightly misleading; he was in the second group. The final climb directly suited his (former?) capabilities.

That is why I think he's done along with how he sounded in an interview right after. To me he sounded discouraged and dejected.

I don't think he's capable of the form he needs to do anything at la Vuelta. I also wonder if he may just end his season altogether due to when his wife is due to give birth.

 

[Asero831]

Who will be riding Fleche Wallonne? JA will not ride so a change for him. But i guess he already misses his family

 

[Koronin]

Who will be riding Fleche Wallonne? JA will not ride so a change for him. But i guess he already misses his family

No idea, ask Movistar. Likely the kids they had in Italy for the one day races when the season restarted. Alejandro was never doing Fleche Wallone when they restarted the season. LBL was the only one of the Ardennes he was even considering and the closer it got to the Tour the less likely it was sounding. With his current poor form he's going home. La Vuelta is the only possibility of anything the rest of this season.

 

[Fernandez]

Koronin, I dont know where you read what lead you to think he was discouraged yesterday. Id say the oposite since he said he was too prudent and he felt he could have been with the Van Aert group. So his words were that he felt good.

 

[gunara]

Koronin, so you see this year's result as purely bad form and not any slightest sign of decline?

 

[Koronin]

Koronin, I dont know where you read what lead you to think he was discouraged yesterday. Id say the oposite since he said he was too prudent and he felt he could have been with the Van Aert group. So his words were that he felt good.

I listened to his interview. It was the tone of his voice, not what he said.

Koronin, so you see this year's result as purely bad form and not any slightest sign of decline?

He has bad form. What I said is I don't know if he's capable of better form anymore than what he currently has.

 

[BlueRoads]

But you tend to be a bit emotional about his form and chances and maybe exaggerating some things because of that, don't you?

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Has he looked like winning any race this year?

 

[pink_jersey]

And how can he win a GT with Tourmalet, Angliru and that monster stage with Farrapona?

This year, Vuelta is even harder than in recent years. The only advantage he has is that the race is shortened and the final week doesn't have any big stages besides the ITT and Covatilla(where the gaps will not be big anyway).

 

[Blanco]

And how can he win a GT with Tourmalet, Angliru and that monster stage with Farrapona?

This year, Vuelta is even harder than in recent years. The only advantage he has is that the race is shortened and the final week doesn't have any big stages besides the ITT and Covatilla(where the gaps will not be big anyway).

He can't win of course, even he knows that, but a stage or two would be nice and that would give him a boost to continue next year and compete in the Olympics.

 

[Blanco]

Oh and I totally forgot, he made a good sprint at the end, something I haven't seen in a while from him.

 

[Red Rick]

Going by last year I think it's silly to make a definitive judgment before La Vuelta.

It's sad if he's struggling with motivation for whatever reason. That's not the way you want to do the last stretch of your career.

 

[ice&fire]

8th at 53" yesterday.
9th at 51" in Mendrisio 2009, but he had two teammates ahead of him.
Spain will go through years of nothingness in 1-day hilly races when he retires.

 

[Koronin]

Going by last year I think it's silly to make a definitive judgment before La Vuelta.

It's sad if he's struggling with motivation for whatever reason. That's not the way you want to do the last stretch of your career.

It's sounding like he is struggling with motivation, which is something he's never struggled with before in his life. So even the team is going to have a very hard time even attempting to work with him with that. It's also not exactly the best mind set to be in to coach/teach your your teammates who want that.

 

[Serpentin]

So much negative talk here. 2020 is a special season. He doesn´t like to ride the trainer and I clearly see that his form is improving, he did a good sprint yesterday. If he can get a win his confidence is back. He won´t leave 2020 without a win, next spring he will be deadly again

 

[Kaptain Kool]

Valverde still has the endurance and positioning skills to be there at the end of the 250 km+ races. He hasn't been as explosive on the short, steep climbs, which might be permanent decline or might be unideal training. Either way, he can still win big races and this Worlds performance changes nothing. In fact, his Worlds performance was much like his 2019 MSR and RvV performances.
I just hope he doesn't waste 3 weeks next year riding the Tour.