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

[DFA123]

Re: Valverde crash

I watched the TV replays of the 1st-stage TT crashes.
Anyone going down in the manner and speed of Valverde in that situation, is gonna get hurt ...
My own worst injury in cycling looked a lot like that scenario - wet tarmac, I was trying to go around a left-hand turn too fast for the prevailing weather (my own fault), wheel slid out and I broke five bones. But I landed on my shoulder, that is a major difference.
The way in which Valverde was sliding feet-first, but diagonally, into the barricade was such bad luck. Could have been otherwise - just a twist of fate in hitting the metal-pipe barricade in the worst way. It is such a shame that he will be out of racing for quite a while.

Yep, it looked an awful one from the first time you saw it. I hope those people moving him and trying to lift him off the course didn't make it worse. There surely should have been a better protocol in place than having to do that. Some crash barriers on the corner would have been nice as well; I imagine if this was the Vuelta and not the Tour then everyone would be howling about the lack of safety precautions.

 

[Asero831]

the first week of the therapy will be crucial. I still think he can race Lombardia

 

[GuyIncognito]

I'm pretty sure he crashed on purpose to avoid being embarrassed by better riders.
After seeing Boonen do it year after year he succumbed to the temptation

 

[joe_papp]

Re:

He will return next year Vino-style. His 2018 season will be unremarkable until he wins the Worlds

Hah ok that cheered me up.

Sometimes when I'm feeling blue I rewatch the final kms of the London Olympic road race lol.

 

[Galic Ho]

With Dan Martin placing third to Sagan and Matthews, who here would have doubted Valverde might have been able to beat the mighty Sagan mano a mano on stage 3?

It would have been something to behold!

We'll never know, but that was a good stage.

Would be nice to see him race the Tour Down Under again and whoop Simon Gerrans...just for old time sake.

 

[Squire]

Anything Dan Martin can do, the Don can do better. So he would've been 2nd today.

 

[ice&fire]

Re:

Anything Dan Martin can do, the Don can do better. So he would've been 2nd today.

Except in Lombardia

 

[Squire]

Re: Re:

Anything Dan Martin can do, the Don can do better. So he would've been 2nd today.

Except in Lombardia

If we're gonna be pedantic, the Don has beaten Martin three out of the four times he has ridden Lombardia.

 

[SeriousSam]

Without that crash he might well have been in yellow and won a stage. :/

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Anything Dan Martin can do, the Don can do better. So he would've been 2nd today.

I get depressed any time I think about that. I truly know how it feels to be a Contador-fan in 14 now I guess, I was extremely excited about his prospects for this Tour. He probably wouldn't win overall, but yeah. *** happens.

 

[DFA123]

Some interesting news posted by the Don on Twitter. Seems like no plaster cast on his leg and has already started physio, so the operation seems to have gone well. I guess he's not going to be ready even for Lombardia this season, but hopefully will be able to get a full preseason base in and start next year strongly.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

Anything Dan Martin can do, the Don can do better. So he would've been 2nd today.

I get depressed any time I think about that. I truly know how it feels to be a Contador-fan in 14 now I guess, I was extremely excited about his prospects for this Tour. He probably wouldn't win overall, but yeah. **** happens.

Everything we have seen so far points in the direction that he could have won. It is indeed so depressing.

 

[Blanco]

Re: Re:

Anything Dan Martin can do, the Don can do better. So he would've been 2nd today.

I get depressed any time I think about that. I truly know how it feels to be a Contador-fan in 14 now I guess, I was extremely excited about his prospects for this Tour. He probably wouldn't win overall, but yeah. **** happens.

And Unzue said he was flying in that TT, he might have been in yellow today, or very close

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Anything Dan Martin can do, the Don can do better. So he would've been 2nd today.

I get depressed any time I think about that. I truly know how it feels to be a Contador-fan in 14 now I guess, I was extremely excited about his prospects for this Tour. He probably wouldn't win overall, but yeah. **** happens.

Everything we have seen so far points in the direction that he could have won. It is indeed so depressing.

He could definitely have won, yes. But I would like to believe he wouldn't since I get even more depressed then.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Someone help me. I had hoped Froome or Porte to go nuclear and smash everyone, but that didn't happen. Both are human. It makes one wonder on his dark days what could, should and would have happened................................

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Someone help me. I had hoped Froome or Porte to go nuclear and smash everyone, but that didn't happen. Both are human. It makes one wonder on his dark days what could, should and would have happened................................

Exactly. Back in April I called that if Porte was not brilliant, Alejandro would be the one to beat. And now we'll never now but it certainly looks like he would have been in yellow by now.

It is the worst imaginable start to the race (for me, that is). I care about two riders in the race. The one suffers a horror injury five kilometers into a race he could win and the other is sent home by a clueless pack of commissaires who apparently don't know anything about sprinting. And then the national hero turns out to have nothing more than usually in a grand tour (I'm not very surprised by that, though).

 

[Valv.Piti]

At least we can feel each others pain....

 

[Axis]

I'm so depressed...

 

[Sartorius]

Re:

Some interesting news posted by the Don on Twitter. Seems like no plaster cast on his leg and has already started physio, so the operation seems to have gone well. I guess he's not going to be ready even for Lombardia this season, but hopefully will be able to get a full preseason base in and start next year strongly.

Thanks for info, at least some kind of good news...but I am still praying for miraculous victory in Lombardy this season...

 

[Valv.Piti]

Asked if Valverde could win Le Tour:
“Ahhhh,” Unzué said with a smile and shaking his head. “Having seen how he went all year… And also before he crashed… He was riding with a time to be in the first 10 of the time trial.

“The whole year he was consistent and at a high level, we probably never had seen such a level from him. Also the effectiveness, because where he raced, he almost always won or was high up. But this is the reality and we must live with it.”

When will he come back:
“It could be this year, or next,” Unzué added. “He’ll always have a contract with us.”

 

[silvergrenade]

Re:

Asked if Valverde could win Le Tour:
“Ahhhh,” Unzué said with a smile and shaking his head. “Having seen how he went all year… And also before he crashed… He was riding with a time to be in the first 10 of the time trial.

“The whole year he was consistent and at a high level, we probably never had seen such a level from him. Also the effectiveness, because where he raced, he almost always won or was high up. But this is the reality and we must live with it.”

When will he come back:
“It could be this year, or next,” Unzué added. “He’ll always have a contract with us.”

Classy!

 

[joe_papp]

Re: Re:

Someone help me. I had hoped Froome or Porte to go nuclear and smash everyone, but that didn't happen. Both are human. It makes one wonder on his dark days what could, should and would have happened................................

Exactly. Back in April I called that if Porte was not brilliant, Alejandro would be the one to beat. And now we'll never now but it certainly looks like he would have been in yellow by now.

It is the worst imaginable start to the race (for me, that is). I care about two riders in the race. The one suffers a horror injury five kilometers into a race he could win and the other is sent home by a clueless pack of commissaires who apparently don't know anything about sprinting. And then the national hero turns out to have nothing more than usually in a grand tour (I'm not very surprised by that, though).

Even though it's torture, I am returning to this thread to say that I share both your pain as well.

No woman has ever left me as heartbroken as I am now thanks to the roads of Germany, the barriers of ASO, and the impotent & confused (or corrupt) Philippe Marien.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Seeing a lot of older, in particular women, encouraging Valverde on social media makes me happy. In English. That probably wouldn't have happened 6 years ago, but it seems Valverde finally is getting some of the credit for his great exploits he is deserving off. He is already walking on crutches!

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Seeing a lot of older, in particular women, encouraging Valverde on social media makes me happy. In English. That probably wouldn't have happened 6 years ago, but it seems Valverde finally is getting some of the credit for his great exploits he is deserving off. He is already walking on crutches!

I think such a crash generally generates a lot of sympathy (unsurprisingly), and more (non-Spanish) people are likely to warm up to him when he makes his comeback. I think that also happened for Zakarin when he crashed badly in the Giro last year. Maybe such accidents make riders more relatable, proving they are not just machines. It didn't really work for Froome, although his injury was not as bad as Valverde's and Zakarin's.

Perhaps all this is just in my head, as it can be quite difficult to prove such suggestions.

 

[Valv.Piti]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDDj9WubzFg

Classiest and best rider in the world. The acceleration in Catalunya against Froomey and Contador was epic, the numerous wins against Martin, the ease...