2013, 2015 and 2018 are the years when Valverde had the legs to win Amstel...Valverde could have easily won Amstel in 2015.
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2013, 2015 and 2018 are the years when Valverde had the legs to win Amstel...Valverde could have easily won Amstel in 2015.
2013, 2015 and 2018 are the years when Valverde had the legs to win Amstel...
Yep, but as far as I remember, he could not bridge at Keutenberg but Kwiat did. Seems to me that he wasn't sharp enough after Itzulia, and that Amstel fine tuned his form for Fleche and Liege. Something that I hope will happened this year also..Maybe 2017 too. His form was insane that spring but he was caught napping when the winning group got away.
Maybe 2017 too. His form was insane that spring but he was caught napping when the winning group got away.
He isn't a guy with best roleur skills, plus he was a little cooked because of that bridging after Cauberg (which was impressive by the way..). I guess he needed little time to recover, but those guys wait for no one.Shockingly impressive sprint where he tried to play Van der Poel, opening 300 metres out and almost finishing fourth anyway. Where has this guy been the past year and a half?
Such a pity that he didn't just go with the winning move, he was right there for it.
In more important news, Koronin will be delighted that Valverde is riding the Ruta Del Sol next month.
And imagine the shock of Koronin if Valverde cancels one of these races...Looks like a pretty hectic two weeks if so.
If he does the Mallorca races followed by Ruta Del Sol and then Murcia (home race) the next day after Ruta Del Sol ends.
And imagine the shock of Koronin if Valverde cancels one of these races...
I don't know who promised what, but apparently Koronin thinks he'll do it all. I personally think he will skip at least one of those, either Mallorca (more probably) or Ruta del Sol.Wait... he promised all the small Spanish races he'd ride?
His team was awful at Amstel, except Verona. Especially Garcia Cortina was disappointing, Serrano too... They were nowhere, in the last 50-60 km Bala was left with Verona only to cover all moves, and there were plenty of it. That's why he was so badly positioned last time they went over Cauberg, Verona was dead and he had no one to guide him. Alaphilippe for example had 3 or 4 men, Ineos had even more.
For Fleche and Liege he needs stronger team, he needs Mas and Oliveira beside Verona.
Edit: I saw that they announced the team, no Oliveira but Jorgenson is there. He needs someone to control things on penultimate climb, and someone to land him in a good position at the foot of the Mur, I think Mas and Verona could do the job.
Very shrewd move to hop onto the curb in order to obtain better positioning.At the start of the climb was one of the last of a 30 men group... I dont know what could have been if he had been at the wheel of Alaphilipe or Roglic.
6s is a pretty big difference.At the start of the climb was one of the last of a 30 men group... I dont know what could have been if he had been at the wheel of Alaphilipe or Roglic.
Its not a matter of seconds, its a matter of energy you spend. At 1km to go he was the last of the group, he had to spend a lot of energy to come to the front. Energy that he didnt have to respond Alaphilipes attack.6s is a pretty big difference.