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

[ILovecycling]

Re:

It's not like he was especially challenged tactically these last two races.

It's says it all really when he after the race thinks it was very brave of him to close the gap to Moreno in the final even if it risked losing him the race. Other than that he was in his comfort zone the whole way. And the only reason I briefly thought Moreno had just a slight chance was because it was Valverde behind.

You are again like my alter ego netserk, exactly my thoughts

 

[Bushman]

Re:

It's not like he was especially challenged tactically these last two races.

It's says it all really when he after the race thinks it was very brave of him to close the gap to Moreno in the final even if it risked losing him the race. Other than that he was in his comfort zone the whole way. And the only reason I briefly thought Moreno had just a slight chance was because it was Valverde behind.

Well, he did expose himself when he closed the gap to Moreno, but he had to.

I think he rode the perfect race. Forcing on Nicholas but not going too deep and them timing it to perfection on the finish.

 

[hrotha]

Netserk, what you said is completely true, but that hasn't kept him from losing other races before.

 

[Netserk]

Yeah, but I think it'd have been too much to hope for a Lombardia déjà vu.

 

[Carols]

Wow the Ardennes; Bala wins 2 and places 2nd in the other. Yesterday was his birthday, nice present to yourself! He takes over as WT number 1 . 116 career wins, what a champ.

He has less than 100 career wins.

LOL that is what I get for believing Paul Sherwin and not checking. So how many?

It's some time since I have counted, but I guess it's in the 80s.

edit: It's 90.

http://www.cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/rider_palm.asp?riderid=5&victories=1

Take away the Super Besse one and add the three that isn't shown from 2010.

Thanks. Quite a haul for someone who isn't a field sprinter!

 

[Rollthedice]

Alejandro Valardennes.

 

[The Hitch]

Wow the Ardennes; Bala wins 2 and places 2nd in the other. Yesterday was his birthday, nice present to yourself! He takes over as WT number 1 . 116 career wins, what a champ.

He has less than 100 career wins.

LOL that is what I get for believing Paul Sherwin and not checking. So how many?

It's some time since I have counted, but I guess it's in the 80s.

edit: It's 90.

http://www.cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/rider_palm.asp?riderid=5&victories=1

Take away the Super Besse one and add the three that isn't shown from 2010.

4 from 2010 no? 2 in Basque 1 in Romandie + Rom overall.

Unless you treat Freire's sprint dsq same as Riccos Besse one.

I'm assuming you aren't counting points jerseys either. Maybe the people who said 116, were.

 

[Netserk]

Yeah, sorry, for some reason I totally overlooked Pais Vasco. That's another 2 wins, so he is up to 92.

Obviously you can't both give him his 2010 wins (5) and Super Besse. For me it's his 2010 results that count.

 

[hrotha]

His 2010 wins count about as much as that time in 1987 when he trounced a hypothetical cousin of his somewhere in Murcia.

 

[jaylew]

Re:

Also, regarding his tactics, he has an amazing ability throughout the race to stay in the top 5-10 riders in the peloton. It might mean he occasionally take a bit more of the wind than is absolutely necessary, but it's not coincidence that these days he very rarely gets caught up in a crash or caught on the wrong side of a split.

I was thinking about this as well. Some riders seem to always be getting caught up in crashes while others rarely do. Valverde and Cadel come to mind as top riders who tend to stay away from crashes more than others.

Anyway, I'm so stoked for Alejandro. After a classics season with riders I don't like so much winning most of the races, it finished perfectly.

 

[Fernandez]

Poor haters, this is gonna be a bad week for them. If Valverde was belgium, he would have a statue in Brussels.

 

[Panda Claws]

I keep a document with the palmares of some of the great current riders, and I have Valverde at 89 Wins.

But I do not count 2010 results or Point/Mountain jerseys as wins.

 

[Wallenquist]

Valverde plans for the rest of the season:

Altitude training in Sierra Nevada then Dauphine, National Champs RR, Tour, San Sebastian, Vuelta, Worlds and Lombardia.

 

[Flamin]

Re:

Valverde plans for the rest of the season:

Altitude training in Sierra Nevada then Dauphine, National Champs RR, Tour, San Sebastian, Vuelta, Worlds and Lombardia.

Valverde going for another super saiyan year again, love it.

 

[Carols]

Re:

Valverde plans for the rest of the season:

Altitude training in Sierra Nevada then Dauphine, National Champs RR, Tour, San Sebastian, Vuelta, Worlds and Lombardia.

Doing well on that program could keep him World #1.

 

[Miburo]

If he had 2 WC and another monument (which was definitely possible), i think he's the best/most succesful rider of this generation.

I would have loved to see him ride RVV, i'm certain he can win that race. For sure on the old parcours.

 

[ILovecycling]

Re:

If he had 2 WC and another monument (which was definitely possible), i think he's the best/most succesful rider of this generation.

I would have loved to see him ride RVV, i'm certain he can win that race. For sure on the old parcours.

Yep, I thought about it last year, he can certainly have a chance ftw, but there is too much at stake imo.

as for worlds I dont think he can win gold (actually never thought that ) those parcours are not good for him.

 

[BigMac]

Perhaps (likely) ge he gets a free role in Richmond and tries something. A strong break of riders who can't rely on the ambiguous difficulty of the 350m Governor Street climb, and the false flat after, may try to get away before.

 

[Mr.White]

He'll try Ronde for sure, he said so, might be competitive if he's in the right move, although I don't think he can win. Top 10 result would be just fine

 

[Mr.White]

Eusebio Unzue: Es un hombre tocado por una varita magica, es un corredor unico en la historia!

 

[SeriousSam]

Praise for Alejandro from all quarters!

Michele Ferrari: Valverde is thus confirmed as the ONLY rider currently capable of winning both the Classics and the Grand Tours.

 

[Carols]

Re:

Praise for Alejandro from all quarters!

Michele Ferrari: Valverde is thus confirmed as the ONLY rider currently capable of winning both the Classics and the Grand Tours.

As much as I love Bala his only GT was the Vuelta in 2009. I won't be putting any money on him to win another. Still he can podium GTs as well as being a threat in all the 1 week and 1 day races he competes in

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

Praise for Alejandro from all quarters!

Michele Ferrari: Valverde is thus confirmed as the ONLY rider currently capable of winning both the Classics and the Grand Tours.

As much as I love Bala his only GT was the Vuelta in 2009. I won't be putting any money on him to win another. Still he can podium GTs as well as being a threat in all the 1 week and 1 day races he competes in

If none of the big 4 show up he could win this years Vuelta. AC probably won't show up, Quintana will ride for him in the Vuelta, what's the likelihood of Nibbes and Froome riding....? That's what I'm not sure about yet.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

Praise for Alejandro from all quarters!

Michele Ferrari: Valverde is thus confirmed as the ONLY rider currently capable of winning both the Classics and the Grand Tours.

As much as I love Bala his only GT was the Vuelta in 2009. I won't be putting any money on him to win another. Still he can podium GTs as well as being a threat in all the 1 week and 1 day races he competes in

If none of the big 4 show up he could win this years Vuelta. AC probably won't show up, Quintana will ride for him in the Vuelta, what's the likelihood of Nibbes and Froome riding....? That's what I'm not sure about yet.

When Froome and Nibali lose in the Tour they will have no real season successes to fall back on and will feel obligated to get a Vuelta win under their belt. Unfortunately Froome hasn't the constitution to ride at the level necessary to contend at 2 consecutive grand tours and neither does Nibali. Valverde will finish the season with wins at San Sebastian, the Vuelta and GdL, causing so much chaos in the clinic that the entire cn site will crash from the overload of outraged posts.

 

[jaylew]

Re: Re:

Praise for Alejandro from all quarters!

Michele Ferrari: Valverde is thus confirmed as the ONLY rider currently capable of winning both the Classics and the Grand Tours.

As much as I love Bala his only GT was the Vuelta in 2009. I won't be putting any money on him to win another. Still he can podium GTs as well as being a threat in all the 1 week and 1 day races he competes in

If none of the big 4 show up he could win this years Vuelta. AC probably won't show up, Quintana will ride for him in the Vuelta, what's the likelihood of Nibbes and Froome riding....? That's what I'm not sure about yet.

When Froome and Nibali lose in the Tour they will have no real season successes to fall back on and will feel obligated to get a Vuelta win under their belt. Unfortunately Froome hasn't the constitution to ride at the level necessary to contend at 2 consecutive grand tours and neither does Nibali. Valverde will finish the season with wins at San Sebastian, the Vuelta and GdL, causing so much chaos in the clinic that the entire cn site will crash from the overload of outraged posts.

How I would just love that! What cracks me up most is when haters are actually happy when he finishes 2nd or 3rd in a big race.