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

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

The race has 5 man teams, is once every 4 years, and you have to be very lucky to even race it once in your prime on a course that suits you, not to mention that you race for your country in the biggest sporting event in the world.

Nah, Id rather win the annual 'uphill sprint in Ans after holding hands for 260km' event in april every year.

To me, it's by far the highest rated one day race there is.

+100 this.

All the other races are held annually. Every 4 years there is one (1) shot at an Olympic Gold Medal.

In cycling, everyting is build on the monuments and Tour/Giro (and maybe Vuelta). That's the base and heart of 'our sport'.

The OG is a beautiful event, but something that's not the most important thing/goal in cycling. It's was a small event till at least the 60's. The Tour de France is the most important race. Paris-Roubaix is perhaps the biggest and most important one day race.

For sports like Speed skating, athletics, gymnastics or swimming, it is the most important race (by far). But not for cycling, or tennis for example. Usain Bolt talks and dreams about the Olympics for almost 4 years. Every other race is in service of those couple of weeks in the summer. For a lot of cyclists however, the Olympics are just a really important race between other really important races.

That's why i think it's not the highest rated one day race there is.

 

[Mr.White]

Re: Re:

The race has 5 man teams, is once every 4 years, and you have to be very lucky to even race it once in your prime on a course that suits you, not to mention that you race for your country in the biggest sporting event in the world.

Nah, Id rather win the annual 'uphill sprint in Ans after holding hands for 260km' event in april every year.

To me, it's by far the highest rated one day race there is.

+100 this.

All the other races are held annually. Every 4 years there is one (1) shot at an Olympic Gold Medal.

In cycling, everyting is build on the monuments and Tour/Giro (and maybe Vuelta). That's the base and heart of 'our sport'.

The OG is a beautiful event, but something that's not the most important thing/goal in cycling. It's was a small event till at least the 60's. The Tour de France is the most important race. Paris-Roubaix is perhaps the biggest and most important one day race.

For sports like Speed skating, athletics, gymnastics or swimming, it is the most important race (by far). But not for cycling, or tennis for example. Usain Bolt talks and dreams about the Olympics for almost 4 years. Every other race is in service of those couple of weeks in the summer. For a lot of cyclists however, the Olympics are just a really important race between other really important races.

That's why i think it's not the highest rated one day race there is.

Novak Djokovic's prime goal for next season is Olympics, for Valverde, Nibali and Purito it is no.1 goal too. Contador, Quintana and Froome are also targeting Olympics. I don't think any other one-day race will have such field. The truth is Olympics is huge, it's bigger than any classic. Or do you think Devolder's or Vansummeren, Backstedt, Knaven, etc wins worth more than Samu's or Vino's Gold

 

[SeriousSam]

Re: Re:

The race has 5 man teams, is once every 4 years, and you have to be very lucky to even race it once in your prime on a course that suits you, not to mention that you race for your country in the biggest sporting event in the world.

Nah, Id rather win the annual 'uphill sprint in Ans after holding hands for 260km' event in april every year.

To me, it's by far the highest rated one day race there is.

+100 this.

All the other races are held annually. Every 4 years there is one (1) shot at an Olympic Gold Medal.

I refuse to accept Vinokourov won the highest rated one day race there is.

It's understandable if you don't like Vino, but he was a great rider who ended up with an impressive and varied palmares. The Gold is his greatest victory.

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

The race has 5 man teams, is once every 4 years, and you have to be very lucky to even race it once in your prime on a course that suits you, not to mention that you race for your country in the biggest sporting event in the world.

Nah, Id rather win the annual 'uphill sprint in Ans after holding hands for 260km' event in april every year.

To me, it's by far the highest rated one day race there is.

+100 this.

All the other races are held annually. Every 4 years there is one (1) shot at an Olympic Gold Medal.

In cycling, everyting is build on the monuments and Tour/Giro (and maybe Vuelta). That's the base and heart of 'our sport'.

The OG is a beautiful event, but something that's not the most important thing/goal in cycling. It's was a small event till at least the 60's. The Tour de France is the most important race. Paris-Roubaix is perhaps the biggest and most important one day race.

For sports like Speed skating, athletics, gymnastics or swimming, it is the most important race (by far). But not for cycling, or tennis for example. Usain Bolt talks and dreams about the Olympics for almost 4 years. Every other race is in service of those couple of weeks in the summer. For a lot of cyclists however, the Olympics are just a really important race between other really important races.

That's why i think it's not the highest rated one day race there is.

Novak Djokovic's prime goal for next season is Olympics, for Valverde, Nibali and Purito it is no.1 goal too. Contador, Quintana and Froome are also targeting Olympics. I don't think any other one-day race will have such field. The truth is Olympics is huge, it's bigger than any classic. Or do you think Devolder's or Vansummeren, Backstedt, Knaven, etc wins worth more than Samu's or Vino's Gold

It's not about the riders who won those classics. But about the races itself. Rio also could be won by a mediocre cyclist. But that doesn't say anything about the race itself, or the importance of it.

Djokovic wants to win the Olympics because he hasn't won that tournament in his career yet. But that doesn't really say anything about the fact he thinks OG is bigger then Wimbledon or Rolland Garros. Federer on the other hand says the Olympics is not the biggest goal in the season for him, because instead of swimming, the Grandslams are the most important thing and the Olympics are not.

And i'm not saying Rio isn't a important event. Winning a gold medal would be great for Purito, Nibali or Valverde. But i bet Purito would love to win Liege instead of Rio.

 

[Mr.White]

I didn't talked about the riders, I talked about what winning Olympic Gold Medal means for every sportsman,
including tennis players (Rafa Nadal after his withdrawal in London 2012 said it's one of the saddest days in his career; Roger Federer cried out of happiness after his doubles gold with Wawrinka in Beijing 2008; Andre Agassi probably summed it up best: To win a Grand Slam is the greatest thing in our sport, but to win an Olympics is the biggest thing you can do in all sports!)
Anyway, back to cycling, Olympic Gold boosted Samu Sanchez career way more than Roubaix win boosted Vansummeren, Terpstra, Degenkolb, etc, it's not about the riders, it's about the race! If you ask Vino which win is more important, Liege or Olympics, well I'm pretty sure what the answer is going to be.

 

[robin440]

whoever wins hopefully wont retire soon after, i would like to see a golden bike back in the peloton!

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Valverde confirms to the Gazzetta he' ll be doing the Giro

http://www.gazzetta.it/Ciclismo/10-11-2015/giro-d-italia-ci-sara-anche-valverde-130871821247.shtml

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Valverde confirms to the Gazzetta he' ll be doing the Giro

http://www.gazzetta.it/Ciclismo/10-11-2015/giro-d-italia-ci-sara-anche-valverde-130871821247.shtml

EEEEY!

 

[Rollthedice]

Looking forward to see Alejandro in the rain and snow. Good news, it shapes up to be a good Giro.

 

[jsem94]

I won't believe it until I see him on the start line.

 

[thehook]

Bala at Giro....Is MASSIVE! Really will spice the Race. Although Nibs is looking to me to be the man for the W.

 

[Marco Pantani]

After last years improvement at the Tour, this man needs to be taken very serious.

 

[SeriousSam]

That's not good for his Rio odds.

 

[hrotha]

He didn't confirm it to the Gazzetta:

una notizia nell'aria già nelle ultime settimane e confermata in queste ore da elperiodico.com

The piece on El Periódico, meanwhile, doesn't quote Valverde or anyone else. It's signed by López-Egea, who's quite notorious for his blunders, and it also says Valverde isn't (or at least wasn't) too keen on the idea.

 

[jsem94]

LMAO. As said, I won't believe it until I see him at the startline.

 

[jens_attacks]

Quintana pushed unzue on it. He won't take no as an answer
It's a done deal imo

 

[DBotero]

I don't believe this.No way he'll be at the start.He doesn't enjoy bad weather and he was never keen about riding Il Giro.Also Giro+Tour will destroy his chances at Rio.If the team will force him to do it they might get the same type of performance Sky got from Wiggins.

 

[hrotha]

I suspect they're saying this (not Valverde himself, mind) for now to appease Quintana, but there'll be a change of plans wink wink later.

 

[Angliru]

I don't believe this.No way he'll be at the start.He doesn't enjoy bad weather and he was never keen about riding Il Giro.Also Giro+Tour will destroy his chances at Rio.If the team will force him to do it they might get the same type of performance Sky got from Wiggins.

I don't know. How many grand tours has Valverde finished that he didn't end up in the top ten of the gc? One and that was the year of his return from his "hiatus" from competition. If he enters a grand tour he is usually there to compete with his gc rivals. I doubt he would sully his legacy by giving a half-hearted effort out of spite.

 

[SeriousSam]

I'm hoping hrotha is right, but Quintana is obviously a much more valuable asset at this point, so he may well get his way.

 

[GuyIncognito]

He won't ride. He'll throw a tantrum and get the team to change plans. 2014 all over again.
Plus, Telefonica are apparently unhappy about this.

He doesn't enjoy bad weather

To this day his explanation for winning that Vuelta is 'The weather was bad, that's when I do my best rides'.

 

[DBotero]

He won't ride. He'll throw a tantrum and get the team to change plans. 2014 all over again.
Plus, Telefonica are apparently unhappy about this.

He doesn't enjoy bad weather

To this day his explanation for winning that Vuelta is 'The weather was bad, that's when I do my best rides'.

I take it he was joking,he's a funny guy after all.He wasn't enjoying this one surely:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/valverde-stays-in-third-at-vuelta-after-tough-day-in-pyrenees/

 

[Carols]

Da*n they sure butchered the Spanish National Champions jersey Makes Nibali's first one look good.....

IF he rides the Giro he will ride it to his utmost. Hopefully he doesn't, he is a warm weather kind of guy.

 

[Arredondo]

Like i said before, it would be a stupid decision by the team to let him ride Ardennes classics + Giro + Tour. That's too much if you want to be 100% in Rio. If he rides the Giro (with the ambition of riding a good GC):

- You can't be 100% in the Classics. And that's not good for your chances in those races.

- Because you ride the classics, you can't be in super shape in the 3rd week of the Giro. His two biggest competitors, Nibali and Landa (for sure), will not ride the classics with the same intention as Bala, or will not riding it at all, which means they will be fresher then Valverde at the end of the Giro.

- If you're riding a GC at the Giro, you can't fight for the win/podium in the Tour. Just look at Contador, who's even a better GC rider then Valverde. Likely he will work for Quintana in France, but i really don't get that tbh. What's the point of it? Perhaps it will help Quintana, but you sacrifice a possible victory/podium with Bala at the Vuelta.

- Because you ride Ardennes + Giro + Tour, you will not be in super shape for Rio. And with Contador and especially Purito (who will ride a more relax programm to Rio) as co-leaders, it will be difficult to shine in that race.

So if i would be Bala: just skip the Giro and ride the Tour with the intention of winning a stage. Then you can try to win Rio + Vuelta.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Re:

He didn't confirm it to the Gazzetta:

My bad