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

[Bardamu]

Just amazing what he is doing. Hope he can grab a stage somewhere.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Just amazing what he is doing. Hope he can grab a stage somewhere.

Me too, altho Id settle for a podium just now. Chaves and Contador, somewhat surprisingly, aren't better than this and apparently isn't getting much better, so unless if has a bad day, I honestly think he has this wrapped up.

 

[carton]

Re: Re:

Me too, altho Id settle for a podium just now. Chaves and Contador, somewhat surprisingly, aren't better than this and apparently isn't getting much better, so unless if has a bad day, I honestly think he has this wrapped up.

I'd guess he will have that bad day but he can still take it. He knows how to pace himself so as not to blow up completely, he's much better than Chaves against the clock, and Contador apparently doesn't race for third. Well, that last one is a stretch, but we'll see.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Me too, altho Id settle for a podium just now. Chaves and Contador, somewhat surprisingly, aren't better than this and apparently isn't getting much better, so unless if has a bad day, I honestly think he has this wrapped up.

I'd guess he will have that bad day but he can still take it. He knows how to pace himself so as not to blow up completely, he's much better than Chaves against the clock, and Contador apparently doesn't race for third. Well, that last one is a stretch, but we'll see.

Yeah, even if he somewhat cracks, he is a master in limiting his losses; probably the best in the peloton.

The last one is obviously a myth, you and I know that. Altho Contador is an aggressive rider, he isn't Jesus. Tour de France 2013 happened.

 

[Kokoso]

I begin to like the guy more and more. He is 36 and so good. Every single moment (except for first race of season if I'm correct) his shape is best possible, prepared to win any race he enters. (Or am I wrong and he actually wasn't at best shape i.e. at Tour with Giro in his legs? And is not in best shape at the Vuelta now? He would be even bigger beast then.) Now he's founding new discipline - all GT in one year top ten placing with Giro podium and unfinished Vuelta bussiness. That all while helping Quintana. Amazing.

 

[joe_papp]

Re:

I begin to like the guy more and more. He is 36 and so good. Every single moment (except for first race of season if I'm correct) his shape is best possible, prepared to win any race he enters. (Or am I wrong and he actually wasn't at best shape i.e. at Tour with Giro in his legs? And is not in best shape at the Vuelta now? He would be even bigger beast then.) Now he's founding new discipline - all GT in one year top ten placing with Giro podium and unfinished Vuelta bussiness. That all while helping Quintana. Amazing.

Agreed. And comfortably top-10 in the sprint today, just staying out of trouble. Very wily this Valverde, and such an inspiration.

 

[Mr.White]

D-Day tomorrow. If he hangs in, he's on the podium!

 

[DBotero]

A climb too far unfortunately Anyway he had a great Vuelta until now considering he's on his 3rd GT.

 

[Arredondo]

Great he did so well till the queen stage. But now he just has to work for Nairo. No more personal ambition or sneeky riding allowed.

Movistar wants to win this Vuelta. And if that means that Valverde doesn't have any freedom anymore to chase that top-10 in GC: so be it.

 

[hrotha]

A waste of race days in his schedule, like the Tour.

 

[Moviestar]

Re:

Great he did so well till the queen stage. But now he just has to work for Nairo. No more personal ambition or sneeky riding allowed.

Movistar wants to win this Vuelta. And if that means that Valverde doesn't have any freedom anymore to chase that top-10 in GC: so be it.

They can send Valverde in the echappee as they did with Moreno today, maybe he'll grab a stage win. And if not he will be useful for Nairo near the end of the stages.

 

[Red Rick]

I think his absence really hurt Quintana today. Bad timing to break

 

[DFA123]

Re:

I think his absence really hurt Quintana today. Bad timing to break

Yep, he let Quintana down a bit today - a real 1-2 punch could have made all the difference to crack Froome. But I guess if he didn't have the legs there's nothing he could have done.

Will be interesting to see his role for the rest of the race. Send him in breaks to help Quintana late on? Stage hunt? Try to scrape back into the top 10 and consolidate points jersey?

 

[PremierAndrew]

Valverde won't be of much use to Quintana any more. Valverde was way too dangerous on GC for Froome to let go, and obviously Quintana wasn't going to chase him down. Now that's gone, it's mano a mano. Quintana simply has to be strong enough to drop Froome or it's over. But he's still got 3 summit finishes to gain time on Froome (15, 17, 20)

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

Great he did so well till the queen stage. But now he just has to work for Nairo. No more personal ambition or sneeky riding allowed.

Movistar wants to win this Vuelta. And if that means that Valverde doesn't have any freedom anymore to chase that top-10 in GC: so be it.

They can send Valverde in the echappee as they did with Moreno today, maybe he'll grab a stage win. And if not he will be useful for Nairo near the end of the stages.

If he really did lose 11 minutes today because he's tired (which is likely), he will not win a stage anymore against fresher riders like Gesink and Elissonde.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Valverde won't be of much use to Quintana any more. Valverde was way too dangerous on GC for Froome to let go, and obviously Quintana wasn't going to chase him down. Now that's gone, it's mano a mano. Quintana simply has to be strong enough to drop Froome or it's over. But he's still got 3 summit finishes to gain time on Froome (15, 17, 20)

If he gets up the road and Quintana can bridge he could still play a key role. He's one of very, very few riders in the peloton who can climb at a pace that Sky domestiques can't match.

 

[Kokoso]

3 GT top ten podium ended here, unfortunately.

 

[yaco]

Today proved Valverde is human.

 

[Lexman]

Re:

Today proved Valverde is human.

my thoughts exactly...

 

[Bardamu]

Re: Re:

Great he did so well till the queen stage. But now he just has to work for Nairo. No more personal ambition or sneeky riding allowed.

Movistar wants to win this Vuelta. And if that means that Valverde doesn't have any freedom anymore to chase that top-10 in GC: so be it.

They can send Valverde in the echappee as they did with Moreno today, maybe he'll grab a stage win. And if not he will be useful for Nairo near the end of the stages.

If he really did lose 11 minutes today because he's tired (which is likely), he will not win a stage anymore against fresher riders like Gesink and Elissonde.

Guess he let it go once he knew he was done for today. I see him winning a stage for sure.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

3 GT top ten podium ended here, unfortunately.

+1.

Very sad for him. great effort.

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

Great he did so well till the queen stage. But now he just has to work for Nairo. No more personal ambition or sneeky riding allowed.

Movistar wants to win this Vuelta. And if that means that Valverde doesn't have any freedom anymore to chase that top-10 in GC: so be it.

They can send Valverde in the echappee as they did with Moreno today, maybe he'll grab a stage win. And if not he will be useful for Nairo near the end of the stages.

If he really did lose 11 minutes today because he's tired (which is likely), he will not win a stage anymore against fresher riders like Gesink and Elissonde.

Guess he let it go once he knew he was done for today. I see him winning a stage for sure.

You think? He wants to finish in the top-10 in every GT this year, right? Why losing 11 minutes then?

And he should only hunt for a stage win, if it's safe concerning Quintana's position up the road. It sounds hard, but the individual interests of Valverde are not important anymore this Vuelta.

 

[Mr.White]

Re: Re:

Great he did so well till the queen stage. But now he just has to work for Nairo. No more personal ambition or sneeky riding allowed.

Movistar wants to win this Vuelta. And if that means that Valverde doesn't have any freedom anymore to chase that top-10 in GC: so be it.

They can send Valverde in the echappee as they did with Moreno today, maybe he'll grab a stage win. And if not he will be useful for Nairo near the end of the stages.

If he really did lose 11 minutes today because he's tired (which is likely), he will not win a stage anymore against fresher riders like Gesink and Elissonde.

Guess he let it go once he knew he was done for today. I see him winning a stage for sure.

Don't think so, he never let go. He's cracked. Stage will be hard now, anyway great effort

 

[Moviestar]

Re: Re:

Great he did so well till the queen stage. But now he just has to work for Nairo. No more personal ambition or sneeky riding allowed.

Movistar wants to win this Vuelta. And if that means that Valverde doesn't have any freedom anymore to chase that top-10 in GC: so be it.

They can send Valverde in the echappee as they did with Moreno today, maybe he'll grab a stage win. And if not he will be useful for Nairo near the end of the stages.

If he really did lose 11 minutes today because he's tired (which is likely), he will not win a stage anymore against fresher riders like Gesink and Elissonde.

Guess he let it go once he knew he was done for today. I see him winning a stage for sure.

You think? He wants to finish in the top-10 in every GT this year, right? Why losing 11 minutes then?

And he should only hunt for a stage win, if it's safe concerning Quintana's position up the road. It sounds hard, but the individual interests of Valverde are not important anymore this Vuelta.

I don't think Valverde will be of much use if he stays with Quintana, today he didn't even have to work and was dropped already when teammate Castroviejo took care of the pace.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

well, its was a honorable attempt imo, but Orica ripped the plan apart today.
Hopefully Valverde is not quite done for the season.