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

[jens_attacks]

I think he will be dead at these worlds.
Finished vuelta empty

 

[joe_papp]

Re:

I think he will be dead at these worlds.
Finished vuelta empty

Maybe.

He might be able to come good for a one-day race though. Lots of tricks to facilitate that. & so Valverde is still at 20/1 ... P. Gilbert at 18/1 ... Kwiatkowski at 22/1 (don't really want to see him repeat, as he was kinda anonymous this year (or so it seemed, on TV...)).

 

[KyoGrey]

Never underestimate Valverde's unique hability to link consecutive peaks of form in the same season.

May be that his god-like legs can assimilate the Vuelta excesses in a positive way and he is suddenly flying up the WC and Lombardia.

Or maybe not.

I personally have the feeling that this year his possibilities of going to Lombardia are 50/50. It all depends on his feelings in Richmond.

 

[Fernandez]

I think he will be fine. The route is not the best for him but im sure he will be there at the end with the best.

 

[Arredondo]

Re:

I think he will be fine. The route is not the best for him but im sure he will be there at the end with the best.

If everyone is holding back till the last lap (like in every WC), for sure he will be there with the best

 

[Velolover2]

Re: Re:

I think he will be fine. The route is not the best for him but im sure he will be there at the end with the best.

If everyone is holding back till the last lap (like in every WC), for sure he will be there with the best

But he wouldn't be in top 5 unless they can drop some of the sprinters (including some of the hardy ones)..

His only option is to attack on one of the hills. Preferably the first one even if it has cobbles. He was good on the pavé in the Tour.

Both him, Gilbert and Kwai could split the peloton and ruin some of the sprinters chances. Let's at least have a great race in the final 5k!

 

[Fernandez]

Does anyone bet against a podium for him in Richmond?

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

Does anyone bet against a podium for him in Richmond?

I'd bet against him.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Valverde looked very soft in the Vuelta.
Can't recall a time where that happened.

Don't think he will factor in Richmond.

 

[Fernandez]

Re: Re:

Does anyone bet against a podium for him in Richmond?

I'd bet against him.

He will get his seventh medal, silver or bronce. :

 

[ice&fire]

Re: Re:

I think he will be fine. The route is not the best for him but im sure he will be there at the end with the best.

If everyone is holding back till the last lap (like in every WC), for sure he will be there with the best

Being with the best in this years' course can be finishing 20th

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

Does anyone bet against a podium for him in Richmond?

I'd bet against him.

He will get his seventh medal, silver or bronce. :

Nope.

 

[Mr.White]

I don't know, his form is a mystery to me. He was weak on the climbs, but strong in the TT. If he recovers well he may be up there with the best, and if the race become selective enough he can contest for the win, which can easily be the case since the strongest team, Belgium, will want that, along with Spaniards and Italians

 

[bala v]

Eusebio Unzue: Next Sunday? it's a particular course which could or could not suit sprinters. If it does Juanjo could be contesting. And there's a man who never fails. For him it doesn't matter how the route is, he will be up there! El Grande Bala of course...

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Eusebio Unzue: Next Sunday? it's a particular course which could or could not suit sprinters. If it does Juanjo could be contesting. And there's a man who never fails. For him it doesn't matter how the route is, he will be up there! El Grande Bala of course...

I honestly dont have too many expectations for Bala on Sunday, the route seems to favour the hard classics guy such as Degen, Sagan, Kristoff etc., but after 260 km of racing, you'll never know if he can win such a sprint on a false flat. Same goes for Juanjo Lobato.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re:

And Vavlverde is riding the Tour of Dubai 8th to 11th of October.

And he is going to ride at a hight level till 2018. Definitively he born to ride a bike.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

And Vavlverde is riding the Tour of Dubai 8th to 11th of October.

And he is going to ride at a hight level till 2018. Definitively he born to ride a bike.

One can only hope! But I think its kinda sketchy that he rides there, when he even was in doubt of doing Lombardia (and still is?), but its Valverde. Guy doesnt care. Hopefully he will start his season a little later next year..

 

[joe_papp]

top-5!! Jesus Crísto our man Valv is irrepressible!

 

[The Hitch]

cq wise he's now down on last year. Doesn't look like he'll match his total or break Gilbert's record

 

[hrotha]

Since this was probably the last WC where he could do anything, I'd have hoped he'd gamble on something different, because he sure wasn't going to win waiting for a sprint.

 

[Fernandez]

Id say that getting a fifth in this parcours is a good result for valverde.

 

[nobilis]

Re:

cq wise he's now down on last year. Doesn't look like he'll match his total or break Gilbert's record

But even with that, it's still his second best season, cq wise of course.
On the team level, Movistar took the lead on cq. It has been very close the whole season between the top 5 teams.

 

[Asero831]

will he ride Lombardy?

 

[Arredondo]

Really strange people say he rode a good race. He rode more like a coward. It was his last chance to become WC. He should have tried an all or nothing attack.

In the past, he finished 2nd in Madrid behind Boonen, and 3rd in Salzburg behind Bettini and Zabel. On a flat finish. So finishing 5th on a finish (and a parcours like this) is nothing special. He showed his form isn't that good anymore, but he should have tried an all or nothing attack. But once again, he decided to only follow in a big race like this.

A shame.

 

[jens_attacks]

He did very well for such a finish with covbles.

But yes big mistake to take purito instead of rojas.