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

[Velolover2]

Dwars is below both Roubaix, Ronde, Gent-Wevelgem, E3 and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. It's a fact.

The question is if it's even the 6th greatest cobbled classic.

 

[Blanco]

Re:

Dwars is below both Roubaix, Ronde, Gent-Wevelgem, E3 and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. It's a fact.

The question is if it's even the 6th greatest cobbled classic.

Yeah, but it's a good warm up for De Ronde, and yes I think the Don will ride it.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

Dwars is below both Roubaix, Ronde, Gent-Wevelgem, E3 and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. It's a fact.

The question is if it's even the 6th greatest cobbled classic.

Yeah, but it's a good warm up for De Ronde, and yes I think the Don will ride it.

I agree, it's a very good warm up for Ronde. I'm really hoping he'll finally race Ronde. Who knows, maybe the fact Nibali is racing will finally get him on the start line.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Dwars is below both Roubaix, Ronde, Gent-Wevelgem, E3 and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. It's a fact.

The question is if it's even the 6th greatest cobbled classic.

Of course, all these races are more prestigious, but its 6th unless you think K-B-K is better. I think E-3 is more suited to Valverde, but I can't Im not intrigued!

 

[Velolover2]

Re: Re:

Dwars is below both Roubaix, Ronde, Gent-Wevelgem, E3 and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. It's a fact.

The question is if it's even the 6th greatest cobbled classic.

Of course, all these races are more prestigious, but its 6th unless you think K-B-K is better. I think E-3 is more suited to Valverde, but I can't Im not intrigued!

Obviously not. Or even worse, Scheldeprijs.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Both Quintana and Valverde is riding Dwars.

I hope Valverde is also using is it as warm-up to the Ronde and not just a preparation race for the Tour. I mean, what is Carapaz doing there for crying out loud..

Show some bravery and join Kwiatkowski and Nibali.

I think he is too light to compete with the cobbles hardmen, he's about 4 kilos less than Nibali who will just test De Ronde for the first time with an unknown outcome. If he really wants to step out of the Ardennes only wins he should try to win Lombardia at some point in his career.

He's been trying hard since 2013. And usually someone's always better on a hard route, and he really **** up in 2014.

Not to mention that in LBL every team has one rider for that last push to Ans, and the hills aren't enough to definitely shed domestiques, yadayadayada. It all adds up.

He really tried hard only in 2013-2014, and he did **** up in the latter. In 2015-2016 he was a "dead man riding"

Agreed. He's really only tried twice. 2015-2016 he was over 90 race days by the time he showed up and was basically racing to ensure Movistar won the team title. In 2015 the team said he'd started to cramp right at the start of the race and on the final climb he specifically asked the team where he had to finish to ensure the team won the team points title. The team has even said they have to get him to the Worlds and Lombardia this year at closer to 85 race days than 90 race days to give him a real shot.

Now will he race Ronde this year or not, who knows. He has said it's tentatively on his calendar, but it has been for the past couple of years. The team wants him to go so he can just experience the race. He wants to go, but keeps pulling out for one reason or another.

Seems like he's on schedule for another 90 day season though.

Or is he skipping Pais Vasco?

 

[Velolover2]

He is skipping Pais Vasco. But both Landa and Quintana are riding it.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Valverde's PCS profile is a joy to look at right now, a sight to behold!

 

[Koronin]

He's again the number 1 rider in the World.

 

[Bardamu]

Re:

He is skipping Pais Vasco. But both Landa and Quintana are riding it.

He'll be trying to win Amstel-Fleche-LBL without Pais Vasco? Ambitious.

 

[liamito]

Re: Re:

He is skipping Pais Vasco. But both Landa and Quintana are riding it.

He'll be trying to win Amstel-Fleche-LBL without Pais Vasco? Ambitious.

He knows how to do it.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

He is skipping Pais Vasco. But both Landa and Quintana are riding it.

He'll be trying to win Amstel-Fleche-LBL without Pais Vasco? Ambitious.

Not really, more like a fairly typically schedule for him. He almost always tries to win the Ardennes triple and only sometimes races Pais Vasco. He's also won the Ardennes double both with and without racing Pais Vasco before.

 

[Bardamu]

Oh ok, I thought he always races Pais Vasco.

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Oh ok, I thought he always races Pais Vasco.

No he doesn't. In 2015 he didn't race Pais Vasco, finished 2nd at Amstel and then won both Fleche Wallone and LBL.

 

[Blanco]

22nd stage race won. He's equal with A.C.Velasco now (if we don't count their stripped wins, it's 26-24 for Contador then). Only Merckx, Hinault, Indurain, Anquetil and Kelly ahead.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

22nd stage race won. He's equal with A.C.Velasco now (if we don't count their stripped wins, it's 26-24 for Contador then). Only Merckx, Hinault, Indurain, Anquetil and Kelly ahead.

Great stat; do you know how many of those wins were in Spain? I'm guessing it is a huge proportion (everything except the Dauphine and whichever Middle East one it was that he won this year perhaps?).

I guess that those years he boycotted Italy are a factor in that though.

 

[Netserk]

Non-Spanish stage race wins:

Sandbox race
Tour Méditerranéen
Tour de Romandie
Dauphiné Libéré
Dauphiné Libéré


Of big stage races: Vuelta, 2*Dauphiné, Itzulia, 3*Catalunya, Romandie = 8 big stage race wins.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Non-Spanish stage race wins:

Sandbox race
Tour Méditerranéen
Tour de Romandie
Dauphiné Libéré
Dauphiné Libéré


Of big stage races: Vuelta, 2*Dauphiné, Itzulia, 3*Catalunya, Romandie = 8 big stage race wins.

Thanks. Romandie and Mediterraneen were two of the ones taken from him when he was suspended weren't they? I wonder why he hasn't looked to add a Paris Nice to that list in recent years. It surely can't just be that he likes Strade Bianche so much. He'd have won it easily in the last couple of years with the form he's had around that time.

 

[Netserk]

Probably a mix of weather and calender spot.

 

[Koronin]

Well he did plan on racing Paris-Nice last year and got sick right before. That's why he ended up racing both Catalunya and Pais Vasco last year.

That is an interesting stat about GC wins.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Yeah, Paris-Nice is sorely missed on his palmarés. Would have been an even more amazing race last year had he entered, but you can't complain when he won Catalunya in the manner he did and finally also won Pais Vasco in a thrilling time trial dual against his great friend, Alberto. I hope to see him next year, altho seeing him in Strade Binache also is fun. But the way he rides these one week races nowadays, he would surely be the favourite going up against basically everyone and the route doesn't really matter that much.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Yeah, Paris-Nice is sorely missed on his palmarés. Would have been an even more amazing race last year had he entered, but you can't complain when he won Catalunya in the manner he did and finally also won Pais Vasco in a thrilling time trial dual against his great friend, Alberto. I hope to see him next year, altho seeing him in Strade Binache also is fun.

I doubt it. PN last year was the perfect storm in terms of quality, change anything significant and it probably gets worse.

 

[Valv.Piti]

At least for us Valverde-fans, then - but yeah, best one week stage race I have seen.

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Yeah, Paris-Nice is sorely missed on his palmarés. Would have been an even more amazing race last year had he entered, but you can't complain when he won Catalunya in the manner he did and finally also won Pais Vasco in a thrilling time trial dual against his great friend, Alberto. I hope to see him next year, altho seeing him in Strade Binache also is fun. But the way he rides these one week races nowadays, he would surely be the favourite going up against basically everyone and the route doesn't really matter that much.

I think at this point between Paris-Nice and Strade Bianche it comes down to which he would rather race. At this point in his career, I think he gets to make the call on which race he'd rather go to.

 

[Asero831]

He will ride GP M. Indurain so no Flanders for him?