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

[ILovecycling]

About Alejandro's claim:

1-) Is the off season time when everyone is allowed to speculate & say lots of rubbish out of boredom
2-) Alejandro's statement only shows how self confident & narcissistic he is
3-) Looking carefully all Alejandro's achievements, there is no doubt he's top 3, but leaving aside any bias & taking everything in account, then Valverde's palmares is "slightly better than Purito's as far as GT podiums, Classics, week stage races, etc.
4-) I will be extremely disappointed is his obsession with the TDF podium ruins Nairito's 1st TDF victory

THIS will NOT happen!

 

[trevim]

I don't see how Purito or Sanchez even belong to the discussion. Freire, Contador and Valverde definitely stand out. Valverde was the only one to win both a monument and a GT so a case can be made that he's the best. Also he's the most well rounded guy around. Sadly, Don Alejandro will probably keep riding for a sprint in every god damn race and make us all dislike him while entertaining ourselves in this forum

 

[Red Rick]

We gotta talk major wins here.

So its 2 monumets and 1 GT vs 3WC and 3monuments vs 8GT's.

I know which one isn't the best here

 

[cineteq]

4-) I will be extremely disappointed if his obsession with the TDF podium ruins Nairito's 1st TDF victory

We already know from 2014 Vuelta that it wasn't going to be the case. Valverde is a very smart guy, I hope he uses his brain this year.

 

[LaFlorecita]

About Alejandro's claim:

1-) Is the off season time when everyone is allowed to speculate & say lots of rubbish out of boredom
2-) Alejandro's statement only shows how self confident & narcissistic he is
3-) Looking carefully all Alejandro's achievements, there is no doubt he's top 3, but leaving aside any bias & taking everything in account, then Valverde's palmares is "slightly better than Purito's as far as GT podiums, Classics, week stage races, etc.
4-) I will be extremely disappointed if his obsession with the TDF podium ruins Nairito's 1st TDF victory

I agree with all of this

 

[Cance > TheRest]

I think Contador is the best rider in terms of winning whatever he set his mind on - GT's. He is more of a specialist and therefore much more dominant at winning GT's than Valverde ever was at winning classics or stage races...

Would however say that Valverde's palmares, in terms of quantity, stands out, as the best of any spanish cyclist the last 20 years.
The quality of Contador's (fewer) victories are of higher class though.

 

[Netserk]

IIRC they have something like 70 and 80 victories, so there's not that big of a difference quantity wise.

EDIT: Contador has indeed 70 victories, while Valverde has 86, so I was pretty close. No TTTs nor points jerseys counted.

 

[cineteq]

EDIT: Contador has indeed 70 victories, while Valverde has 86, so I was pretty close. No TTTs nor points jerseys counted.

It's all about points.

 

[ray j willings]

Pre season mind games.

 

[LaFlorecita]

IIRC they have something like 70 and 80 victories, so there's not that big of a difference quantity wise.

EDIT: Contador has indeed 70 victories, while Valverde has 86, so I was pretty close. No TTTs nor points jerseys counted.

Exactly, and Contador's victories are of higher quality. So yeah.

 

[greenedge]

About Alejandro's claim:

3-) Looking carefully all Alejandro's achievements, there is no doubt he's top 3, but leaving aside any bias & taking everything in account, then Valverde's palmares is "slightly better than Purito's as far as GT podiums, Classics, week stage races, etc.

I disagree, he's won LBL and a GT. Sure JROD has actually podiumed the TDF but I'd still say he's a better rider by a clear (not a slight) margin.

 

[pigoonse]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/valverde-i-want-to-go-for-the-tour-de-france-podium-until-i-retire



crazy guy

don't you think these guys like valverde need to keep that level of self belief to remain competitive at the top? sounds crazy but - never say die when you are still competing at/near the top.

 

[ILovecycling]

don't you think these guys like valverde need to keep that level of self belief to remain competitive at the top? sounds crazy but - never say die when you are still competing at/near the top.

yea,this is it probably

 

[Electress]

don't you think these guys like valverde need to keep that level of self belief to remain competitive at the top? sounds crazy but - never say die when you are still competing at/near the top.

Maybe, but honestly, it's a stretch to think he really believes it. I'd have to think he was a bit delusional, tbh. As for mind games - the one person I would not bother trying to play mind games on was Contador. I actually think he's the type when there's a point to prove. Surely it's just media fodder in the low season. Keeping one another vaguely entertained.

These days, I'll admit I enjoy Vvde. He's so satisfyingly as I expect him to be. Good to have a sort of pantomime villain you like to boo and hiss at occasionally...I'd miss if he wasn't there.

 

[Escarabajo]

LOL. I tell my friends that Valverde is the best spanish of the last generation. Better than Contador. And they go Valverde who?

You have to be a fan in order to compare!!!

 

[Miburo]

Talent wise Valverde is definitely at Contador's level, maybe he's even better.

But the guy didn't win enough big races. He had the potential to be as great as Contador but he failed.

He should be angered by himself, he could have been one of the greatest classic riders of all time. Could have been easily top 3 imo.

 

[Rollthedice]

Valverde has a different way of understanding the races he's in than the other riders, the public and so on, as we have witnessed countless times when he could have won but somehow managed to be totally satisfied with a podium.

So it's not really a surprise that he considers himself the best. Unfortunately I think he will somehow screw Quintana's chances in TdF while missing the podium.

 

[Dr. Juice]

His obsession with the Tour is hilarious. Imagine...he'll retire without having done 1 single time the Giro d' Italia which has the best (medium) mountain stages for him (well, except those 2-3 "tapponi" ).

 

[Angliru]

Talent wise Valverde is definitely at Contador's level, maybe he's even better.

But the guy didn't win enough big races. He had the potential to be as great as Contador but he failed.

He should be angered by himself, he could have been one of the greatest classic riders of all time. Could have been easily top 3 imo.

...and being angry with one's self is a healthy way to go through your life? It's pointless to dwell on what could have been rather than accepting what you have done and accomplished as being enough in your own eyes. If you let what some of the media and fans think shape your view of your life you're in for depressing existence.

 

[Publicus]

I totally understand his perspective (he has to believe he's the best, because he doesn't no one will (besides perhaps his mother)). I think the reality is he's won more often than any of the other spanish cyclists of his generation in a wider variety of races. That being said, his name is not in the conversation as an all time great like Contador's (regardless of where you come down on the question, his name is definitely in the conversation). That's the difference IMO.

 

[Red Rick]

It's not that bad. He'll be remembered for as long as cycling exists (or for as long as nobody gets 7 WC 2nds and 3rd places without winning)

 

[Carols]

I totally understand his perspective (he has to believe he's the best, because he doesn't no one will (besides perhaps his mother)). I think the reality is he's won more often than any of the other spanish cyclists of his generation in a wider variety of races. That being said, his name is not in the conversation as an all time great like Contador's (regardless of where you come down on the question, his name is definitely in the conversation). That's the difference IMO.

Well said.

I have always defended Bala on this forum against the naysayers. He is rider of great quality. Not very successful in 3 week races outside the Vuelta but can win in many scenarios. However he just is Not in the same Class with Contador who indeed is in the discussion for an all time great.

Come On Bala, get real!

Maybe it is a mistranslation of what he said????

 

[Flamin]

His obsession with the Tour is hilarious. Imagine...he'll retire without having done 1 single time the Giro d' Italia which has the best (medium) mountain stages for him (well, except those 2-3 "tapponi" ).

Valverde just doesn't like the cold at all, rather than being obsessed with the Tour.

 

[Electress]

Well said.

I have always defended Bala on this forum against the naysayers. He is rider of great quality. Not very successful in 3 week races outside the Vuelta but can win in many scenarios. However he just is Not in the same Class with Contador who indeed is in the discussion for an all time great.

Come On Bala, get real!

Maybe it is a mistranslation of what he said????

This.

I think the difference is kind of summed up by a Contador quote
'The second place is not good'.

For Vvde, for whatever reason, it has frequently been good enough .

But I do "like" the guy. Long may he carry on troubling the podium. And he's no reason to look back and be angry - good god, if the only thing that mattered was winning, an awful lot of people would be terribly unhappy.

 

[BigMac]

Talent wise Valverde is definitely at Contador's level, maybe he's even better.

But the guy didn't win enough big races. He had the potential to be as great as Contador but he failed.

He should be angered by himself, he could have been one of the greatest classic riders of all time. Could have been easily top 3 imo.

What tosh. Did not win enough big races? What is your conception of enough? You may have a case the day Contador performs other than in stage races. I honestely have no idea of what you mean when you claim he could have been as great as Contador - you mean in stage races? Valverde is not (just) a stage racer. Other than that, and because cycling goes well past stage racing, he is a much more successful rider than Contador, and one who can perform on a larger variety of terrains and races. You're confused, for if anything, it was Contador who failed to match A.V. Perhaps the superficial cycling fan will regard Contador as a better rider, because of their limited knowledge, and because he seems to have gotten himself surrounded by a horde of blindly faithful propagandist minions who hijacked the sport, by creating this false legend who for them symbolizes epicenter of cycling. Only in a GT-centered perspective, which I admit is the norm of today, is Contador greater than Valverde. But I stand that any monument win is bigger and of much more beauty than a victory in any Grand Tour.