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

[WheelofGear]

He is riding Milano-Sanremo too! I think a top 5 in Flanders should be easier than a top 5 in Milano-Sanremo for Valverde. Tour of Flanders is at least selective although he has sometimes had some nice solo rides in smaller one-day classics.

http://www.cyclingquotes.com/news/valverde_and_quintana_announce_race_schedules/

 

[WheelofGear]

Re:

Holy ****, this dude cant get enough. Flanders, Ardennes, Giro, Tour, Rio, Sebastian.. Vuelta, WC? Hahaha, I LOVE IT.

And Milano-Sanremo! I think he is planning to attack on Cipressa and if it comes down to a sprint they can ride for Lobato.

 

[bala v]

Re: Re:

Holy ****, this dude cant get enough. Flanders, Ardennes, Giro, Tour, Rio, Sebastian.. Vuelta, WC? Hahaha, I LOVE IT.

And Milano-Sanremo! I think he is planning to attack on Cipressa and if it comes down to a sprint they can ride for Lobato.

That would be something, maybe he could drag Nibali or Gilbert with him. It would be major panic in the peloton

 

[jsem94]

It's not even going to be a Nuclear Holocaust season. More like asteroid bombardment and mass extinction of species.

 

[Arredondo]

Re:

It's not even going to be a Nuclear Holocaust season. More like asteroid bombardment and mass extinction of species.

It's not the best moment to call his next season a 'asteroid bombardment'.

 

[jsem94]

LOL didn't even notice.

 

[Mr.White]

Betancur praising Don Alejandro, calling him the best in the world. What a deadly combination this two will be in the Ardennes if Carlos regains his form

 

[jaylew]

Re:

Betancur praising Don Alejandro, calling him the best in the world. What a deadly combination this two will be in the Ardennes if Carlos regains his form

Don't forget Dani Moreno. I have more faith in him than I do in Betancur.

 

[WheelofGear]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/unzue-valverde-will-be-going-for-the-overall-in-the-giro-ditalia/

The mad man is also likely to ride Dwars Door Vlaanderen and E3 Harelbeke. It's confirmed by Unzue. Valverde could score more WT points than all of the rest of top 10 combined!

 

[Arredondo]

Re:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/unzue-valverde-will-be-going-for-the-overall-in-the-giro-ditalia/

The mad man is also likely to ride Dwars Door Vlaanderen and E3 Harelbeke. It's confirmed by Unzue. Valverde could score more WT points than all of the rest of top 10 combined!

You know DDV isn't WT?

With his current race schedule, he likely is going to score less points then in the past years.

 

[WheelofGear]

Re: Re:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/unzue-valverde-will-be-going-for-the-overall-in-the-giro-ditalia/

The mad man is also likely to ride Dwars Door Vlaanderen and E3 Harelbeke. It's confirmed by Unzue. Valverde could score more WT points than all of the rest of top 10 combined!

You know DDV isn't WT?

With his current race schedule, he likely is going to score less points then in the past years.

Yes, I know. But if he can earn points in E3 and Flanders (and even Milano-Sanremo if fit), he is already up there. Valverde said himself that Vlaanderens Mooiste suits him well. You are seriously underestimating his skills on the cobbles. The cobbles on the bergs are smoother than those in Roubaix. And those short, steep climbs are perfect for him. I'd be surprised if he doesn't get a top 10.

 

[Mr.White]

I'm not so sure about his chances at Ronde, it's a tough race, for the specialists. He was good in 2014 at Dwars Door Vlaanderen, but not so good in E3 which is much harder race. Top 10 would be a success in my opinion, top 5 huge...

 

[DFA123]

Re:

I'm not so sure about his chances at Ronde, it's a tough race, for the specialists. He was good in 2014 at Dwars Door Vlaanderen, but not so good in E3 which is much harder race. Top 10 would be a success in my opinion, top 5 huge...

Top 5 would be an incredible achievement. I agree with you and don't really rate his chances of winning highly; the only possible scenario is if he somehow broke away with a group of 3/4 riders like Thomas, Terpstra and Vandenbergh who he could beat in a sprint.

In a really hard race (which Movistar aren't able to make anyway), he may be able to drop Kristoff and Degenkolb, but it's very difficult to see him getting rid of and holding off all of Cancellara, GVA, Stybar, Sagan etc. until the finish. It's not LBL - the guys contending for the win here can all unleash a really fast sprint after a hard race.

 

[pink_jersey]

If he arrives with the favourites at the base of Paterberg he can kill'em all..Maybe Van Avermaet, Stybar and Sagan can stay with him.Van Avermaet also, can have problems on Oude.

 

[Marco Pantani]

Bala is one of the greatest riders out there and surely he shouldn't be underestimated him. But going one on one with the men of the nord? I just can't see it. Also he'll hardly have much support in the finale. Oliveira and Amador might be his strongest domestiques.

 

[gunara]

Re:

Bala is one of the greatest riders out there and surely he shouldn't be underestimated him. But going one on one with the men of the nord? I just can't see it. Also he'll hardly have much support in the finale. Oliveira and Amador might be his strongest domestiques.

Or Rojas? I'm curious whether they will turn up with a more purposeful team in Flanders. Not that they desperately need to, and not that they have many options, but it's the Don, at a big race

 

[DFA123]

Re:

If he arrives with the favourites at the base of Paterberg he can kill'em all..Maybe Van Avermaet, Stybar and Sagan can stay with him.Van Avermaet also, can have problems on Oude.

He might be able to gain a few seconds on the Paterberg but then what is he going to do for the remaining 10+km with a 10-20 second lead. Very doubtful he could stay away by himself if riders like Cancellara, Terpstra, Vanmarcke, GVA etc are chasing him down.

His one shot to win would be to follow an earlier attack by someone like Terpstra or Thomas (or some other really strong rider that Bala could probably outsprint) and hope it sticks.

 

[WheelofGear]

Based on what I've seen in Strade Bianche, I'm sure he can stay with the classics-styled riders like Stybar, Oss, Vanmacke, GVA, Sagan, Cancellara. He was extremely observant and attentive in that race. Attacking with Sagan and Stybar from 50k to go. I know it's a very different race, but it wasn't climbers he was racing against, it was cobblestone experts and specialists in a rolling terrain.

One of the greatest thing about him racing is that we really don't know how good is going to be. I wouldn't be surprised if he was among the best.

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

I'm not so sure about his chances at Ronde, it's a tough race, for the specialists. He was good in 2014 at Dwars Door Vlaanderen, but not so good in E3 which is much harder race. Top 10 would be a success in my opinion, top 5 huge...

Top 5 would be an incredible achievement. I agree with you and don't really rate his chances of winning highly; the only possible scenario is if he somehow broke away with a group of 3/4 riders like Thomas, Terpstra and Vandenbergh who he could beat in a sprint.

In a really hard race (which Movistar aren't able to make anyway), he may be able to drop Kristoff and Degenkolb, but it's very difficult to see him getting rid of and holding off all of Cancellara, GVA, Stybar, Sagan etc. until the finish. It's not LBL - the guys contending for the win here can all unleash a really fast sprint after a hard race.

I really don't get this thinking. It's the OPPOSITE. Specialist will come to the fore if the race will be harder. So if the race is going to be really hard, Bala will be drop by specialists like Kristoff (Degenkolb not so sure). On a course like Richmond, he could follow guys like Stybar and Kristoff because the climbs were hardly 500 meters and on really good cobbles (or no cobbles). In Richmond pure explosive powers were more important then true power and kilo's. In Flanders, you've got Oude Kwaremont: 2 km's on bad cobbles. Really suited for true machines like Cancellara, Thomas, Stybar and Kristoff.

Just look at Kristoff on Paterberg this year. He was the guy who put Terpstra under pressure, not the other way around. Bala just doesn't have enough kilo's and true power to be a real contender in a race like Flanders.

Can you remember the finish in Strade? A lot of people thought he would win it, because it was a finish perfectly suited to him. But both Stybar and GvA dropped him because they have got more power. The same will happen on Paterberg, and surely on Oude Kwaremont.

My prediction: he will be dropped on Oude Kwaremont. He will be decent on Paterberg, but will finish somewhere between 10th-20th place. And that's because he doesn't have the experience in a race like Flanders, doesn't have enough power to follow the best on Kwaremont, doesn't have a really strong team and will have difficulty to place himself between the first 10 riders a the foot of EVERY climb.

 

[bala v]

Re: Re:

I'm not so sure about his chances at Ronde, it's a tough race, for the specialists. He was good in 2014 at Dwars Door Vlaanderen, but not so good in E3 which is much harder race. Top 10 would be a success in my opinion, top 5 huge...

Top 5 would be an incredible achievement. I agree with you and don't really rate his chances of winning highly; the only possible scenario is if he somehow broke away with a group of 3/4 riders like Thomas, Terpstra and Vandenbergh who he could beat in a sprint.

In a really hard race (which Movistar aren't able to make anyway), he may be able to drop Kristoff and Degenkolb, but it's very difficult to see him getting rid of and holding off all of Cancellara, GVA, Stybar, Sagan etc. until the finish. It's not LBL - the guys contending for the win here can all unleash a really fast sprint after a hard race.

I really don't get this thinking. It's the OPPOSITE. Specialist will come to the fore if the race will be harder. So if the race is going to be really hard, Bala will be drop by specialists like Kristoff (Degenkolb not so sure). On a course like Richmond, he could follow guys like Stybar and Kristoff because the climbs were hardly 500 meters and on really good cobbles (or no cobbles). In Richmond pure explosive powers were more important then true power and kilo's. In Flanders, you've got Oude Kwaremont: 2 km's on bad cobbles. Really suited for true machines like Cancellara, Thomas, Stybar and Kristoff.

Just look at Kristoff on Paterberg this year. He was the guy who put Terpstra under pressure, not the other way around. Bala just doesn't have enough kilo's and true power to be a real contender in a race like Flanders.

Can you remember the finish in Strade? A lot of people thought he would win it, because it was a finish perfectly suited to him. But both Stybar and GvA dropped him because they have got more power. The same will happen on Paterberg, and surely on Oude Kwaremont.

My prediction: he will be dropped on Oude Kwaremont. He will be decent on Paterberg, but will finish somewhere between 10th-20th place. And that's because he doesn't have the experience in a race like Flanders, doesn't have enough power to follow the best on Kwaremont, doesn't have a really strong team and will have difficulty to place himself between the first 10 riders a the foot of EVERY climb.

That's not a good example. Guy cracked badly, he dropped 20 seconds in 500m, that's not normal. He said later that he got cramps... I could point to similar finish in this year's Vuelta, the stage that he won, beating Sagan arguably the strongest guy on such terrain. In fact I think he would beat GVA and Stybar 8 times out of 10 on such finish.

Nevertheless, I agree on you about RVV. I think he can finish in top 10, but it will be really hard

 

[WheelofGear]

Re: Re:

Can you remember the finish in Strade? A lot of people thought he would win it, because it was a finish perfectly suited to him. But both Stybar and GvA dropped him because they have got more power. The same will happen on Paterberg, and surely on Oude Kwaremont.

That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, Arredondo. Valverde was pulling all the time in that race. He was attentive from the start to the beginning. He blew up in the final where explosiveness is way more important than power because he had cramps and was likely tired. And Stybar/GVA are punchers. There aren't exactly bad on such uphill finishes. Both get close to Gilbert in terms of explosiveness.

On the dust roads which require a good amount of power, he dropped riders like Vanmarcke, Sagan and Cancellara. The pure powerhouses you talk about.

If he bulks up and add a couple of kilos, he is MADE for riding cobbled races.

 

[Flamin]

Explosiveness is way more important than power after a hard race? That's new.

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

I'm not so sure about his chances at Ronde, it's a tough race, for the specialists. He was good in 2014 at Dwars Door Vlaanderen, but not so good in E3 which is much harder race. Top 10 would be a success in my opinion, top 5 huge...

Top 5 would be an incredible achievement. I agree with you and don't really rate his chances of winning highly; the only possible scenario is if he somehow broke away with a group of 3/4 riders like Thomas, Terpstra and Vandenbergh who he could beat in a sprint.

In a really hard race (which Movistar aren't able to make anyway), he may be able to drop Kristoff and Degenkolb, but it's very difficult to see him getting rid of and holding off all of Cancellara, GVA, Stybar, Sagan etc. until the finish. It's not LBL - the guys contending for the win here can all unleash a really fast sprint after a hard race.

I really don't get this thinking. It's the OPPOSITE. Specialist will come to the fore if the race will be harder. So if the race is going to be really hard, Bala will be drop by specialists like Kristoff (Degenkolb not so sure). On a course like Richmond, he could follow guys like Stybar and Kristoff because the climbs were hardly 500 meters and on really good cobbles (or no cobbles). In Richmond pure explosive powers were more important then true power and kilo's. In Flanders, you've got Oude Kwaremont: 2 km's on bad cobbles. Really suited for true machines like Cancellara, Thomas, Stybar and Kristoff.

Just look at Kristoff on Paterberg this year. He was the guy who put Terpstra under pressure, not the other way around. Bala just doesn't have enough kilo's and true power to be a real contender in a race like Flanders.

Can you remember the finish in Strade? A lot of people thought he would win it, because it was a finish perfectly suited to him. But both Stybar and GvA dropped him because they have got more power. The same will happen on Paterberg, and surely on Oude Kwaremont.

My prediction: he will be dropped on Oude Kwaremont. He will be decent on Paterberg, but will finish somewhere between 10th-20th place. And that's because he doesn't have the experience in a race like Flanders, doesn't have enough power to follow the best on Kwaremont, doesn't have a really strong team and will have difficulty to place himself between the first 10 riders a the foot of EVERY climb.

That's not a good example. Guy cracked badly, he dropped 20 seconds in 500m, that's not normal. He said later that he got cramps... I could point to similar finish in this year's Vuelta, the stage that he won, beating Sagan arguably the strongest guy on such terrain. In fact I think he would beat GVA and Stybar 8 times out of 10 on such finish.

Nevertheless, I agree on you about RVV. I think he can finish in top 10, but it will be really hard

But that finish in La Vuelta was just on normal surface. According to my mind, he was dropped on the cobbled section of the final climb in Siena. But might be wrong about that.

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

Can you remember the finish in Strade? A lot of people thought he would win it, because it was a finish perfectly suited to him. But both Stybar and GvA dropped him because they have got more power. The same will happen on Paterberg, and surely on Oude Kwaremont.

That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, Arredondo. Valverde was pulling all the time in that race. He was attentive from the start to the beginning. He blew up in the final where explosiveness is way more important than power because he had cramps and was likely tired. And Stybar/GVA are punchers. There aren't exactly bad on such uphill finishes. Both get close to Gilbert in terms of explosiveness.

On the dust roads which require a good amount of power, he dropped riders like Vanmarcke, Sagan and Cancellara. The pure powerhouses you talk about.

If he bulks up and add a couple of kilos, he is MADE for riding cobbled races.

I'm sorry, but i don't think you know the difference between dust roads in Strade and Oude Kwaremont in Flanders. That dust roads in Strade are just steep climbs. The last two sterrato climbs are 8/9%, that's more terrain for better climbers. That's why Vanmarcke dropped there. It has nothing to do with power like you need it in a race as Flanders.

In a hard race like Flanders, Lombardia and Roubaix, true power is way more important then explosiveness at the end of the race. That's because riders are so tired and wore out, that true power has got the same effect/looks like as using explosive power. But it's not the same. The best way to see a burst of explosive power, is after a relatively easy stage which ends with a short (steep) climb. But after 240 km and 20 cobbled climbs, the riders with the most power will ride away on Oude Kwaremont/Paterberg. True explosive powers are gone after 240 km.

Valverde is just not build for classics like Flanders or Roubaix. He could do decent/well in Flanders, but he is not made for it. Therefore he's too much a climber. A guy like Kwiatkowski has got more potential for a race like Flanders, but therefore he's not that good as a climber (compared to Valverde).

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Can you remember the finish in Strade? A lot of people thought he would win it, because it was a finish perfectly suited to him. But both Stybar and GvA dropped him because they have got more power. The same will happen on Paterberg, and surely on Oude Kwaremont.

That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, Arredondo. Valverde was pulling all the time in that race. He was attentive from the start to the beginning. He blew up in the final where explosiveness is way more important than power because he had cramps and was likely tired. And Stybar/GVA are punchers. There aren't exactly bad on such uphill finishes. Both get close to Gilbert in terms of explosiveness.

On the dust roads which require a good amount of power, he dropped riders like Vanmarcke, Sagan and Cancellara. The pure powerhouses you talk about.

If he bulks up and add a couple of kilos, he is MADE for riding cobbled races.

I'm sorry, but i don't think you know the difference between dust roads in Strade and Oude Kwaremont in Flanders. That dust roads in Strade are just steep climbs. The last two sterrato climbs are 8/9%, that's more terrain for better climbers. That's why Vanmarcke dropped there. It has nothing to do with power like you need it in a race as Flanders.

In a hard race like Flanders, Lombardia and Roubaix, true power is way more important then explosiveness at the end of the race. That's because riders are so tired and wore out, that true power has got the same effect/looks like as using explosive power. But it's not the same. The best way to see a burst of explosive power, is after a relatively easy stage which ends with a short (steep) climb. But after 240 km and 20 cobbled climbs, the riders with the most power will ride away on Oude Kwaremont/Paterberg. True explosive powers are gone after 240 km.

Valverde is just not build for classics like Flanders or Roubaix. He could do decent/well in Flanders, but he is not made for it. Therefore he's too much a climber. A guy like Kwiatkowski has got more potential for a race like Flanders, but therefore he's not that good as a climber (compared to Valverde).

I agree completely; everyone seems to be thinking that Valverde is better than Degnkolb and co on 200-700m cobbled climbs. The only Ardennes race he's never won is the one most similar to a Flandrian race: Amstel. Valverde is better on 1-2km climbs on asphalt, or any uphill sprint.