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

[silvergrenade]

Re: Re:

Valverde doing the Giro and the Vueta, while Quintana does the TDF - What's left for Landa.

He will lead the Tour alongside Quintana.

Would need proof to believe this.
IMO he aint going to the Tour as leader.

 

[Ikbengodniet]

Same as always for Landa. Riding fenomenal in the shadow of his leader.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Re:

Valverde doing the Giro and the Vueta, while Quintana does the TDF - What's left for Landa.

He will lead the Tour alongside Quintana.

Would need proof to believe this.
IMO he aint going to the Tour as leader.

No proof, only the words of Bala!

 

[sir fly]

Re: Re:

What's the criteria for all the assessments and claims?
Personal preferences?

Of course it's personal. Rating riders is highly personal (IMO).

I presumed, but since some sort of discussion developed, thought there's intention to make the rating objective.

 

[staubsauger]

Landa can win the Giro.
Valverde ain't got no chance.
Quintana can podium the Tour.
Valverde managed it once in his career.
Landa might be able to podium the Tour.
Quintana can win the Vuelta.
Valverde can still podium it.

Anything else than Landa leading Movistar in Italy, while Valverde rides Tour and Vuelta with Quintana would be stupid!

 

[silvergrenade]

Re: Re:

Valverde doing the Giro and the Vueta, while Quintana does the TDF - What's left for Landa.

He will lead the Tour alongside Quintana.

Would need proof to believe this.
IMO he aint going to the Tour as leader.

No proof, only the words of Bala!

Coool! Thanks.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

The "obvious" solution would be to have Landa lead the Giro, Quintana the Tour and Valverde the Vuelta. But I don't think the egos involved will accept that - Valverde is already signalling that he wants to do Giro/Vuelta and not as second fiddle, Landa has already shown he's not keen on playing second fiddle at a second GT, while Quintana is the guy with the strongest GT record by a margin and is highly unlikely to be happy splitting the Tour with anyone or slaving for anyone.

Three riders who - not unreasonably - see themselves as a top GT banana is one too many. Somebody is going to be unhappy.

 

[jaylew]

Re:

Landa can win the Giro.
Valverde ain't got no chance.
Quintana can podium the Tour.
Valverde managed it once in his career.
Landa might be able to podium the Tour.
Quintana can win the Vuelta.
Valverde can still podium it.

Anything else than Landa leading Movistar in Italy, while Valverde rides Tour and Vuelta with Quintana would be stupid!

I figure it'll be:

Landa/Valverde at Giro
Nairo/Landa at Tour
Nairo/Valverde at Vuelta

Landa and Bala will likely both go in as supported leaders for the Giro with Landa ultimately proving to be the best option as Bala will have peaked for the Ardennes.
Nairo will lead at the Tour with Landa as support and as a backup option.
Nairo will lead at the Vuelta with Bala as support and for Worlds prep.

I think Bala's primary focus next season will be Worlds. Last chance for him and he really wants it.

 

[Nirvana]

Re:

Landa can win the Giro.
Valverde ain't got no chance.
Quintana can podium the Tour.
Valverde managed it once in his career.
Landa might be able to podium the Tour.
Quintana can win the Vuelta.
Valverde can still podium it.

Anything else than Landa leading Movistar in Italy, while Valverde rides Tour and Vuelta with Quintana would be stupid!

If he'll return at his level after the injury Valverde will be the favourite in a Giro where the main opposition could be Aru or even Zakarin and Pozzovivo if Aru want to return to the Tour.
And besides if his major goal is the WC he can't ride the Tour as superdom and going for the GC at the Vuelta. I can't see him going at the Vuelta only to train like Nibali so he should skip the Tour.

 

[Tonton]

Re:

The "obvious" solution would be to have Landa lead the Giro, Quintana the Tour and Valverde the Vuelta. But I don't think the egos involved will accept that - Valverde is already signalling that he wants to do Giro/Vuelta and not as second fiddle, Landa has already shown he's not keen on playing second fiddle at a second GT, while Quintana is the guy with the strongest GT record by a margin and is highly unlikely to be happy splitting the Tour with anyone or slaving for anyone.

Three riders who - not unreasonably - see themselves as a top GT banana is one too many. Somebody is going to be unhappy.

Landa is going to end up on the short end of that stick, I'm afraid. Different team, same BS.

From Valverde's prospective....it makes sense.

 

[jaylew]

Re:

The "obvious" solution would be to have Landa lead the Giro, Quintana the Tour and Valverde the Vuelta. But I don't think the egos involved will accept that - Valverde is already signalling that he wants to do Giro/Vuelta and not as second fiddle, Landa has already shown he's not keen on playing second fiddle at a second GT, while Quintana is the guy with the strongest GT record by a margin and is highly unlikely to be happy splitting the Tour with anyone or slaving for anyone.

Three riders who - not unreasonably - see themselves as a top GT banana is one too many. Somebody is going to be unhappy.

I don't see there being any problem. Landa will get to be a/the leader at the Giro. He won't have to sacrifice his chances for Valverde and Nairo will lead at the Tour. It's not Sky where everyone but Froome is on mountain train duty - a fact I'm sure Landa thought about before he signed with Movistar.

 

[Blanco]

Re:

Landa can win the Giro.
Valverde ain't got no chance.
Quintana can podium the Tour.
Valverde managed it once in his career.
Landa might be able to podium the Tour.
Quintana can win the Vuelta.
Valverde can still podium it.

Anything else than Landa leading Movistar in Italy, while Valverde rides Tour and Vuelta with Quintana would be stupid!

Landa can win the Giro if the stars align, which is very questionable in his case. He's just not reliable enough.
Valverde can win the Giro too. His highest level is maybe slightly below Landa, but he's much more consistent and reliable rider than Landa. You just simply know that Valverde is going to be good, which is not the case with Landa.
Quintana can podium the Tour, same as Valverde which is proven in 2015 and in 2016 where Valverde was stronger than Quintana who ended on the podium. This year also I'm pretty sure Valverde would be a podium contender.
Quintana can win the Vuelta, so as Valverde can.

So, for me it's Landa for the Giro with Valverde as a back up. Quintana for the Tour, with Landa as a domestique de luxe, and Quintana and Bala for the Vuelta as co-leaders.

 

[Rollthedice]

I'm afraid the Landa soap opera will be back with another season in 2018. Valverde is not giving up his GT ambitions yet and Quintana is still Quintana so where's Landani?

 

[Bardamu]

Valverde won't be a reason for a soap. He'll focus on the one-day races/WRR and the GT's for stages and being first lieutenant.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Valverde riding the Giro is a good plan. He cant realistically win the Tur next year IMO, we assume the route will be harder and the fact he has endured such a big injury. Landa and Quintana both can win if everything goes right.

But if Valverde wants to ride the Giro + Vuelta, Ardennes and Worlds there shouldnt be any discussion really.

 

[Pennino]

If Movistar only once could play a game worthy of their deck of cards in a GT...

But I don't see problems either. They're all relaxed leaders, that's good. The race will tell them how it should be played out.

 

[staubsauger]

Valverde couldn't win the Giro against Kruijswijk. He can't win it against Pinot, Fuglsang, Lopez or whatever 2nd - 3rd tier rider that finds out there's a chance to become a gt winner because Valverde and Aru are the main favorites!

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Valverde couldn't win the Giro against Kruijswijk. He can't win it against Pinot, Fuglsang, Lopez or whatever 2nd - 3rd tier rider that finds out there's a chance to become a gt winner because Valverde and Aru are the main favorites!

Pinot, Fuglsang and López would have been crushed by Kruijswijk anno 2016.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Damn Im so excited for Valverde next year, could be the most epic thing ever if he just bounced back as if nothing happened. The routes of the GTs can't come soon enough..

 

[staubsauger]

Re: Re:

Valverde couldn't win the Giro against Kruijswijk. He can't win it against Pinot, Fuglsang, Lopez or whatever 2nd - 3rd tier rider that finds out there's a chance to become a gt winner because Valverde and Aru are the main favorites!

Pinot, Fuglsang and López would have been crushed by Kruijswijk anno 2016.

Pinot is the same type of rider than Kruijswijk, just stronger on paper. Fuglsang actually got crushed by Kruijswijk, since he entered that Giro as co-leader with Nibali.

 

[Bardamu]

Not just on paper, Pinot atleast manages to win stages.

 

[Red Rick]

Kruijswijk got pushed to the limit by Nibali on the ascent of the Agnello. As soon as Nibali hit his stride he was the best climber in the race. I don't think 2016 Kruijswijk is as good as a good Nibali.

 

[Blanco]

Re:

Valverde couldn't win the Giro against Kruijswijk. He can't win it against Pinot, Fuglsang, Lopez or whatever 2nd - 3rd tier rider that finds out there's a chance to become a gt winner because Valverde and Aru are the main favorites!

As far as I remember Valverde did beat Kruijswijk, who by the way did seem untouchable until he crashed. Pinot, Fuglsang and Lopez never reached level he had in that Giro.

 

[Durden93]

Re: Re:

Biggest legend in the peloton! Only Nibali comes close...

this current peloton doesn't have any legend.

Oh you're wrong. It has two, and third in the making (triple World champ).

I'm a bit torn on whether Valverde is a legend. On the one hand, all of his major victories have come in the same fashion. Liege were all sprints (although he had to work to get it to a sprint in some) and Fleche were obviously the same in nature.

On the other hand, he has been competitive in nearly ever worlds. His ability to perform in both one day races and GTs is incredible.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

Biggest legend in the peloton! Only Nibali comes close...

this current peloton doesn't have any legend.

Oh you're wrong. It has two, and third in the making (triple World champ).

I'm a bit torn on whether Valverde is a legend. On the one hand, all of his major victories have come in the same fashion. Liege were all sprints (although he had to work to get it to a sprint in some) and Fleche were obviously the same in nature.

On the other hand, he has been competitive in nearly ever worlds. His ability to perform in both one day races and GTs is incredible.

Inspired by the cn article about Nibali and his 31% top ten palmares for the entire 2017 season, I checked out Valverde's abbreviated 2017 season and it consisted of 39 total races of which he had 27 top tens, 19 podiums and 11 wins. He was certainly on a roll.