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

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What will Valverde's impact be the cycling world in 2012

  • Nuclear Holocoust

    Votes: 27 100.0%

  • Total voters
    27
If he doesn't perform at the Vuelta this might as well be his last year.

With a few things he's said, not sure he will do well (although that can still end up with a top 10 in GC) he'll race next year as he'll honor his contract, plus the young riders on that team really want to race with him and want him as a rider-coach. However, if this is the case, I think he'll only race in Spanish races and use it as a way to say goodbye to his fans.
 
This picture is from the Tour, however, thought you all would like it.

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I think top 10 is possible IF he can find any confidence at all. Agreed top 5 would be a very good result. A podium would be a complete shock and unless a couple of mountain stages are cancelled, exceptionally unlikely.
I think a top five is doable especially after his Tour ride where he seemed to switch off in the TT and the Tour field was loaded. He podiumed last year and shouldn't deteriorate that much in 12 months or so. His ride at the Worlds was pretty good also. i would be shocked if he didn't finish in the top ten.
 
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I think a top five is doable especially after his Tour ride where he seemed to switch off in the TT and the Tour field was loaded. He podiumed last year and shouldn't deteriorate that much in 12 months or so. His ride at the Worlds was pretty good also. i would be shocked if he didn't finish in the top ten.

Well this year has just been strange. He shouldn't have deteriorated that much in 12ish months. Obviously there are other factors in play this year as well.
 
Well this year has just been strange. He shouldn't have deteriorated that much in 12ish months. Obviously there are other factors in play this year as well.
The age factor finally hitting hard plus his regular pre covid training and racing routine has also been affected I guess. Maybe the retirement is coming at the right time, still I think his Tour ride was good especially on some of the harder mountain stages. Next year will be mainly ceremonial for him although he would like to finish by winning one of his favourite races of course but it seems it won't happen now even with the classics. His career can't go forever especially winning regularly at his age.
 
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The age factor finally hitting hard plus his regular pre covid training and racing routine has also been affected I guess. Maybe the retirement is coming at the right time, still I think his Tour ride was good especially on some of the harder mountain stages. Next year will be mainly deremonial for him although he would like to finish by winning one of his favourite races of course but it seems it won't happen now even with the classics. His career can't go forever especially winning regularly at his age.

He did look better at the Tour, but then there was the TT and then the Worlds where wasn't right and he was discouraged and dejected. His not being happy with how he raced at the Worlds ensured he wasn't going to Liege. The pre covid stuff was effected by issues with the team changing from Campy to SRAM. Then Covid and he didn't do much training during the lock down, didn't think there would be more racing at all until he was virtually on the start line at Burgos. Although coaches said they thought his form was alright in training before Burgos and no one seems to know what happened. At this point I truly believe he will never race outside of Spain again. I believe next year he will only race Spanish races and basically say goodbye to his fans that way. I would love to see him find a way to win a stage at la Vuelta this year and somewhere next year, but not sure it's going to happen.
 
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He did look better at the Tour, but then there was the TT and then the Worlds where wasn't right and he was discouraged and dejected. His not being happy with how he raced at the Worlds ensured he wasn't going to Liege. The pre covid stuff was effected by issues with the team changing from Campy to SRAM. Then Covid and he didn't do much training during the lock down, didn't think there would be more racing at all until he was virtually on the start line at Burgos. Although coaches said they thought his form was alright in training before Burgos and no one seems to know what happened. At this point I truly believe he will never race outside of Spain again. I believe next year he will only race Spanish races and basically say goodbye to his fans that way. I would love to see him find a way to win a stage at la Vuelta this year and somewhere next year, but not sure it's going to happen.
Did you hear Valverde talking about those Spanish races next year, or did you hear it elsewhere? Or this is just your opinion (fiction) ?

Anyway, I think his next year depends heavily on this Vuelta. If he shows up good there, he'll ride full season with the Olympics as the main target and Vuelta as a farewell race. But if he shows bad, I think he won't ride at all anymore.

I think we will know right from the gun, at Arrate. If he's good he's going to be in contention for the win there.
 
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Valverde will be closer to win the Vuelta than he will be finishing out of top 10. Guaranteed. Remember, we talk about Valverde and the Vuelta. 12th in the Tour and 8th in WC are good results, he will be fine.
Yep, his results in the last couple of months haven't been bad at all. He seems to be missing a bit of explosiveness, but the aerobic engine looks strong. This could easily be a consequence of messed up training and lack of racing during lockdown, rather than a terminal decline.

I think only way he won't make top 10 in the Vuelta would be if he crashes hard, or if he goes all in at some point to try to help Mas win. And, having watched Valverde race for many years, both of those things seem pretty unlikely.
 
Did you hear Valverde talking about those Spanish races next year, or did you hear it elsewhere? Or this is just your opinion (fiction) ?

Anyway, I think his next year depends heavily on this Vuelta. If he shows up good there, he'll ride full season with the Olympics as the main target and Vuelta as a farewell race. But if he shows bad, I think he won't ride at all anymore.

I think we will know right from the gun, at Arrate. If he's good he's going to be in contention for the win there.

It's a feeling based on this some things his friends have said. If he has a good Vuelta he may very well race the full season. If he doesn't he'll still race next year, but very likely only the Spanish races. The reason for this is he has stated that he will honor his contract to race. He has 4 years on his current contract, but 3 of those years are TBA while next year is to race.
 
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Maybe Valverde is suffering from depression again and/or maybe he's just tired of living as a professional cyclist. But if you can finish 12th in the Tour and 8th the Worlds (the 2 races with the toughest competition), you can still win important races.
Vuelta Top 5 is very possible. I think he'd comfortably finish in the top 10 of this year's Giro and could compete for stage wins (e.g., Stage 2).
 
Maybe Valverde is suffering from depression again and/or maybe he's just tired of living as a professional cyclist. But if you can finish 12th in the Tour and 8th the Worlds (the 2 races with the toughest competition), you can still win important races.
Vuelta Top 5 is very possible. I think he'd comfortably finish in the top 10 of this year's Giro and could compete for stage wins (e.g., Stage 2).

Well COVID appears to have been especially hard the Spaniards in general. A lot of my friends there have had bits of it simply because they had 2 months where they couldn't see their friends and family. Even sense with the restrictions it's still hard for them. Would I be surprised if he's suffering from that type of depression like many of his countrymen are? No I wouldn't. I know it's hard on him having been away from home for as long as he has been this year since racing started again. He's used to being home between races and having his wife and kids at races with him. The other issue he has this year is he likes consistency and has problems with change and this year has been change after change after change and I'm sure that's played havoc on him.
 
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I think a top five is doable especially after his Tour ride where he seemed to switch off in the TT and the Tour field was loaded. He podiumed last year and shouldn't deteriorate that much in 12 months or so. His ride at the Worlds was pretty good also. i would be shocked if he didn't finish in the top ten.

I think it would depend on what position the team is in. If Soler or Mas are in contention for the win, I would think the focus would be on working for them. Valverde would then probably ride a similar race to the one he rode at the TDF, which still resulted in a high placing before the TT. I don’t know what shape either are in heading into the race, but Mas will be a podium favorite if his form is good as it was, and Soler’s form was really starting to come on in the last mountain stages and he had planned to peak later for the Giro and not ride the Vuelta. Whatever they decide it should appear to be a much stronger team than it seemed like pre-Tour. Even without a stage win, they proved to be very capable of some results, and Verona has finally come into his own.


Valverde is still able to hang on until the end in the mountains, and Mas has a Top 5 TDF as well as a Vuelta podium (and 2018 wasn’t a weak field by any stretch). Soler finished Top 10 last year. Throw in Verona and you have a team that can do some real damage. It may not be as strong as the Jumbo juggernaut, but I doubt Roglic will be 100% and Dumoulin seems pretty worn out. That leaves Kuss, and he’ll lose 5 minutes in the TT. Carapaz, Landa and Pinot look like the other podium contenders (not rating Froome as a contender). I’m pretty confident one of the Movistar trio can compete with them. I think any of the three could finish on the podium in the right situation. If Mas is on good form, he could compete for the win. I don’t really know what Soler is truly capable of in a GT, Butch he is high placed heading into the TT, he could surprise people. I don’t think Valverde can win the Vuelta anymore, but if they are riding for him, I wouldn’t be shocked if he finished on the podium.

I guess it depends on who is in the best shape. They were all riding much better at the end of the Tour, so it’s hard to say what will happen.