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

[Valv.Piti]

I rank Dauphine the biggest of all the 1 week races. I think its much than just a 'warmup' race as previous editions have shown us, people really want to win and as of now, its definitely one of the hardest if not the hardest race to win.

 

[Red Rick]

The Dauphine has 0 riders peaking, it's never the goal of that part of the season.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

The Dauphine has 0 riders peaking, it's never the goal of that part of the season.

So by that logic Suisse is more prestigious then?

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

The Dauphine has 0 riders peaking, it's never the goal of that part of the season.

Even Valverde seems to be below par in that race!

Two years ago he couldn't even win a stage from a breakaway (granted, that was probably the most insane constellation of a break that I have ever seen).

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

The Dauphine has 0 riders peaking, it's never the goal of that part of the season.

So by that logic Suisse is more prestigious then?

By that logic Dauphine, Tirreno, Pais Vasco and Catalunya are all more prestigious than the DL and Suisse.

I have DL slighly over Suisse. In terms of entertainment, I think Suisse is often a bit better as it's just way more unpredictable.

 

[pablopaul]

Live coverage of GP Miguel Indurain. No geo restriction.

http://www.eitb.eus/es/deportes/deporte-en-directo/

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

The Dauphine has 0 riders peaking, it's never the goal of that part of the season.

So by that logic Suisse is more prestigious then?

By that logic Dauphine, Tirreno, Pais Vasco and Catalunya are all more prestigious than the DL and Suisse.

I have DL slighly over Suisse. In terms of entertainment, I think Suisse is often a bit better as it's just way more unpredictable.

I definitely don't think Catalunya for one second is more prestigious than Dauphine.

But its all subjective and doesn't belong in this thread.

 

[silvergrenade]

Dauphine is definitely the toughest one week race to win. The level here is extremely high, and has been for the past many years, especially now.
Also, the teams here are the teams selected for the Tour.
About being prestigious, I think Paris-Nice might be above it...but then the level there isnt that high and the best GC guys may or may not race it.

 

[GuyIncognito]

Re: Re:

The Dauphine has 0 riders peaking, it's never the goal of that part of the season.

Even Valverde seems to be below par in that race!

Two years ago he couldn't even win a stage from a breakaway (granted, that was probably the most insane constellation of a break that I have ever seen).

Oddly he was even more below par every time he did Suisse

 

[Valv.Piti]

Valverde is in pole position to win Pais Vasco now. I've noticed he isn't is as explosive (nor aggressive) in the sprints lately. It makes sense that he doesn't want to risk anything, especially here considering there are no bonuses, and he let himself get boxed out of position at times.

And thats totally fine. He can't beat Matthews in a straight up sprint anyways and it really doesn't matter if he wins a stage or not here. He has a bunch of stage wins here anyways. I think 7 or something including 2010. Doesn't matter.

I have confidence that he will smoke Roglic tomorrow who I consider a big threat. Dno about Contador. Kwito not good enough tomorrow, Henao not good enough Saturday.

 

[Moviestar]

Re:

Valverde is in pole position to win Pais Vasco now. I've noticed he isn't is as explosive (nor aggressive) in the sprints lately. It makes sense that he doesn't want to risk anything, especially here considering there are no bonuses, and he let himself get boxed out of position at times.

And thats totally fine. He can't beat Matthews in a straight up sprint anyways and it really doesn't matter if he wins a stage or not here. He has a bunch of stage wins here anyways. I think 7 or something including 2010. Doesn't matter.

I have confidence that he will smoke Roglic tomorrow who I consider a big threat. Dno about Contador. Kwito not good enough tomorrow, Henao not good enough Saturday.

Roglic is in good shape and he has proven he can handle steep walls like Malhao in Algarve + his TT skills. Kwiatkowski also fares well, looks very solid at the moment but with him you'll never know which Kwiat shows up. I expect a lot from Henao, tomorrow he will finally have a climb that suits him perfectly.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Yes, but I still reckon Valverde is the favourite now considering what Contador is up to. And I totally forgot Izagirre, he could very well be doing better than Rogla and Valv and run away with it all as well. Wouldn't mind that too much.

 

[Mr.White]

Movistar will go hard on Arrate, Valverde needs time on Rogla, Izagirre and Kwiat. I think Dani and Ruben will split the bunch into pieces, and then Bala needs to keep eye on Henao and Contador (?)

 

[WheelofGear]

Re: Re:

Valverde is in pole position to win Pais Vasco now. I've noticed he isn't is as explosive (nor aggressive) in the sprints lately. It makes sense that he doesn't want to risk anything, especially here considering there are no bonuses, and he let himself get boxed out of position at times.

And thats totally fine. He can't beat Matthews in a straight up sprint anyways and it really doesn't matter if he wins a stage or not here. He has a bunch of stage wins here anyways. I think 7 or something including 2010. Doesn't matter.

I have confidence that he will smoke Roglic tomorrow who I consider a big threat. Dno about Contador. Kwito not good enough tomorrow, Henao not good enough Saturday.

Roglic is in good shape and he has proven he can handle steep walls like Malhao in Algarve + his TT skills. Kwiatkowski also fares well, looks very solid at the moment but with him you'll never know which Kwiat shows up. I expect a lot from Henao, tomorrow he will finally have a climb that suits him perfectly.

That's not a wall and the competition was a lot easier. Let's see what happens tomorrow.

 

[Arredondo]

If he isn't able to drop Roglic on Arrate, i think he's screwed. The Slovenian rider looks in abolute monster shape!

I think Roglic and Izagirre will finish ahead of Bala in the ITT.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Well if Valverde doesn't drop him, Primoz will easily win the race overall since that most likely will mean he will ride out of his mind. I think he will gap him with anything between 20-40 seconds.

 

[WheelofGear]

Re:

If he isn't able to drop Roglic on Arrate, i think he's screwed. The Slovenian rider looks in abolute monster shape!

I think Roglic and Izagirre will finish ahead of Bala in the ITT.

In his current shape, Bala can beat Izagirre in a TT. And Ion hasn't been as great this year as in 2016. He can also beat Spilak, Kwiatkowski and even Contador. I expect a top 3 based on his TT in Andalucia and TTT in Catalunya.

Roglic is a harder nut to crack. Only top rider he shouldn't be able to "out-TT".

 

[Mr.White]

Winning streak continues! I hope tomorrow he can add another victory (GC), but it's going to be tough. He was strong on the climb, no doubt, he has the form. I think he'll be very good tomorrow, but don't know if it's going to be enough. Contador? Well he is usually better in this kind of TT's, but he clearly lacks a bit, so who knows. Uran? We never know which version of him will show up, he might do good, he might do bad. Izagirre? Biggest threat I think. He's in good form plus he is Basque, his motivation will be huge.

 

[Velolover2]

If he wants to, I think he can WIN the time trial.

 

[Fernandez]

Re:

If he wants to, I think he can WIN the time trial.

I think so

 

[Valv.Piti]

He is going to win tomorrow in this shape. He is just too good, mark my words.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

He is going to win tomorrow in this shape. He is just too good, mark my words.

Marked.
Will be back tomorrow.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

He is going to win tomorrow in this shape. He is just too good, mark my words.

Yeah, I agree. It's like people have forgotten his TT in Ruta del Sol earlier this year, since they still don't rank him as the biggest favorite for the race.

I'm actually really interested in the development of Amstel Gold Race this year. Valverde has said that he wanted to win new races this year. Obviously, the route change doesn't suit him well on the surface but it might inspire Movistar to ride hard from far out in order to make it as hard as possible for riders like Coquard and Matthews, which could enable him to win the final Ardennes classic (in a race not located in the Ardennes).

But, granted, every year I have these thoughts and it always disappoints.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re: Re:

He is going to win tomorrow in this shape. He is just too good, mark my words.

Yeah, I agree. It's like people have forgotten his TT in Ruta del Sol earlier this year, since they still don't rank him as the biggest favorite for the race.

I'm actually really interested in the development of Amstel Gold Race this year. Valverde has said that he wanted to win new races this year. Obviously, the route change doesn't suit him well on the surface but it might inspire Movistar to ride hard from far out in order to make it as hard as possible for riders like Coquard and Matthews, which could enable him to win the final Ardennes classic (in a race not located in the Ardennes).

But, granted, every year I have these thoughts and it always disappoints.

He also dominated the prologue at Ruta del Sol in 2014 but was easily beaten in the Pais Vaisco TT.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

He is going to win tomorrow in this shape. He is just too good, mark my words.

Yeah, I agree. It's like people have forgotten his TT in Ruta del Sol earlier this year, since they still don't rank him as the biggest favorite for the race.

I'm actually really interested in the development of Amstel Gold Race this year. Valverde has said that he wanted to win new races this year. Obviously, the route change doesn't suit him well on the surface but it might inspire Movistar to ride hard from far out in order to make it as hard as possible for riders like Coquard and Matthews, which could enable him to win the final Ardennes classic (in a race not located in the Ardennes).

But, granted, every year I have these thoughts and it always disappoints.

He also dominated the prologue at Ruta del Sol in 2014 but was easily beaten in the Pais Vaisco TT.

Yes that's true. That was a very poor performance. But I really don't see him disappoint like that again as he seems quite invincible at the moment. He did the same before that year's País Vasco but was then beaten by Contador on the first hard stage of the race which wasn't exactly close to being the case today.