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

[Netserk]

Re: Re:

Yeah I want to see a 100m by 100m breakdown of climbing times on the Mur de Huy. Should be a lot of time to be gained by attacking it earlier.

Except every year someone tries it and then gets caught and passed by the bunch. Valverde this week made a comment that you have know exactly how to measure your effort up the Mur de Huy and you can't go too soon because you expend energy you need later. Of course he also said if he has the lead with 200 to 250 meters left that it's very hard to beat him.

Every year some minor rider tries it.

The likes of Evans, Schleck, Rebellin all rode it a lot more agressively and a lot faster than Valverde's competitors do now.

Not sure if it's true, I think Dan Martin has 3rd fastest time on the Mur...

2014 was the only win of Valverde in Fleche that was actually a very fast time. The norm used to be in the 2'40s, 4 of Valverde wins are in the 2'50s for the last KM.

Which was the last year without Cherave. No one can climb it faster than him in Flèche, no matter the pacing.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

He has a chance to enter the history books once more. If he wins today he will become the only rider in history who won prominent one day race five times in a row!

This isn't a prominent one-day race though.

 

[SafeBet]

Today it's International Valverde Day!

 

[Blanco]

Re: Re:

He has a chance to enter the history books once more. If he wins today he will become the only rider in history who won prominent one day race five times in a row!

This isn't a prominent one-day race though.

I didn't doubt it

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Today it's International Valverde Day!

May as well be. Saw the other day someone call Fleche Wallone the Alejandro Valverde fan appreciation race.

 

[DFA123]

Another great ride from Valverde today. I know the expectation on him to win was huge, but 2nd in a chaotic race is still a very impressive result. Alaphilippe was just too strong.

Losing here could actually play into his hands at Liege. Some other teams might sense vulnerability and not be so scared about facing Valverde on the final climb.

I also maintain that, right now - probably for the first time in his career, he is a better stage racer than one day racer.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I enjoyed watching him on the podium smiling and really congratulating Julian, guy is such a nice character that many of his colleagues really like. Its clear there is a huge mutual respect between the two, Julian and Valv. Will be a great battle between those two on Sunday.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

I enjoyed watching him on the podium smiling and really congratulating Julian, guy is such a nice character that many of his colleagues really like. Its clear there is a huge mutual respect between the two, Julian and Valv. Will be a great battle between those two on Sunday.

Watch Kreuziger, he's ready to mess *** up.

 

[Breh]

From last years top10, Valverde is the only rider to finish in the top10 again.

I really feared he was going to pass Julian, he almost caught his wheel and then had to sit down.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

From last years top10, Valverde is the only rider to finish in the top10 again.

I really feared he was going to pass Julian, he almost caught his wheel and then had to sit down.

It was like the reverse from previous years. This time it was Alaphilippe who led from near the front and rode a pretty steady paced effort, and Valverde who cooked himself having to close the gap with 200m to go.

I think in a way that gives more credit to Valverde's previous wins, from a tactical perspective. He made it look so easy, that we all assumed he was just way stronger than everyone else. Whereas, perhaps really, Valverde was never *that* much stronger, he just rode the climb to tactical perfection; certainly in the last couple of years.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

From last years top10, Valverde is the only rider to finish in the top10 again.

I really feared he was going to pass Julian, he almost caught his wheel and then had to sit down.

It was like the reverse from previous years. This time it was Alaphilippe who led from near the front and rode a pretty steady paced effort, and Valverde who cooked himself having to close the gap with 200m to go.

I think in a way that gives more credit to Valverde's previous wins, from a tactical perspective. He made it look so easy, that we all assumed he was just way stronger than everyone else. Whereas, perhaps really, Valverde was never *that* much stronger, he just rode the climb to tactical perfection; certainly in the last couple of years.

The difference most likely was that in the previous years, he had teammates who killed themselves to deliver him on the front. Today, they needed to work themselves out of the picture due to the more aggressive race.

But then again, he had Alaphilippe's wheel halfway up the climb but let Kreuziger get in between and when Wellens dropped, it became messy so he ended up with a gap to close. And that was too big - Alaphilippe had a very easy ride throughot the race and is two years older than the last time he rode the race and perhaps a bit stronger.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

From last years top10, Valverde is the only rider to finish in the top10 again.

I really feared he was going to pass Julian, he almost caught his wheel and then had to sit down.

It was like the reverse from previous years. This time it was Alaphilippe who led from near the front and rode a pretty steady paced effort, and Valverde who cooked himself having to close the gap with 200m to go.

I think in a way that gives more credit to Valverde's previous wins, from a tactical perspective. He made it look so easy, that we all assumed he was just way stronger than everyone else. Whereas, perhaps really, Valverde was never *that* much stronger, he just rode the climb to tactical perfection; certainly in the last couple of years.

The difference most likely was that in the previous years, he had teammates who killed themselves to deliver him on the front. Today, they needed to work themselves out of the picture due to the more aggressive race.

But then again, he had Alaphilippe's wheel halfway up the climb but let Kreuziger get in between and when Wellens dropped, it became messy so he ended up with a gap to close. And that was too big - Alaphilippe had a very easy ride throughot the race and is two years older than the last time he rode the race and perhaps a bit stronger.

Yeah, thats a good assessment of the whole situation. Chapeau to Julian for beating such a great champion mano-a-mano, but I still think Valverde will be the better rider on Sunday considering how the two looked in Amstel - a race which in theory should be better for Alaphilippe than Valv. Also, I think Amstel and today's hard race took its toll on Valverde, he should be rested for Sunday.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

From last years top10, Valverde is the only rider to finish in the top10 again.

I really feared he was going to pass Julian, he almost caught his wheel and then had to sit down.

It was like the reverse from previous years. This time it was Alaphilippe who led from near the front and rode a pretty steady paced effort, and Valverde who cooked himself having to close the gap with 200m to go.

I think in a way that gives more credit to Valverde's previous wins, from a tactical perspective. He made it look so easy, that we all assumed he was just way stronger than everyone else. Whereas, perhaps really, Valverde was never *that* much stronger, he just rode the climb to tactical perfection; certainly in the last couple of years.

The difference most likely was that in the previous years, he had teammates who killed themselves to deliver him on the front. Today, they needed to work themselves out of the picture due to the more aggressive race.

But then again, he had Alaphilippe's wheel halfway up the climb but let Kreuziger get in between and when Wellens dropped, it became messy so he ended up with a gap to close. And that was too big - Alaphilippe had a very easy ride throughot the race and is two years older than the last time he rode the race and perhaps a bit stronger.

He's the same age as when Valverde won FW for the first time.

 

[yaco]

Excellent ride as usual by Valverde - The fact is he was beaten by his heir apparent Alaphallipe - Think Valverde has much stronger claims in LBL than Alaphalippe.

 

[Red Rick]

From Jens_Attacks twitter

Alejandro Valverde's climbing times on Mur de Huy:
2018: 2:52
2017: 2:53
2016: 2:52
2015: 2:53
2014: 2:41 (ALL-TIME RECORD)
2006: 2:51

Valverde as solid as ever. Lotto forced a faster pace on the Mur. Very surprising Alaphilippe rides 2.48, which is the fastest time since Cherave was included and after a hard foughten race. Rodriguez and Froome did 2.49 in the Tour in 2015, but the race was restared after a huge crash on Cherave or something like that.

 

[Koronin]

Re:

From Jens_Attacks twitter

Alejandro Valverde's climbing times on Mur de Huy:
2018: 2:52
2017: 2:53
2016: 2:52
2015: 2:53
2014: 2:41 (ALL-TIME RECORD)
2006: 2:51

Valverde as solid as ever. Lotto forced a faster pace on the Mur. Very surprising Alaphilippe rides 2.48, which is the fastest time since Cherave was included and after a hard foughten race. Rodriguez and Froome did 2.49 in the Tour in 2015, but the race was restared after a huge crash on Cherave or something like that.

Interesting.

However, I also don't think he has his full muscle mass back in his injured leg. Don't know if that would have made a difference or not.

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

From last years top10, Valverde is the only rider to finish in the top10 again.

I really feared he was going to pass Julian, he almost caught his wheel and then had to sit down.

It was like the reverse from previous years. This time it was Alaphilippe who led from near the front and rode a pretty steady paced effort, and Valverde who cooked himself having to close the gap with 200m to go.

I think in a way that gives more credit to Valverde's previous wins, from a tactical perspective. He made it look so easy, that we all assumed he was just way stronger than everyone else. Whereas, perhaps really, Valverde was never *that* much stronger, he just rode the climb to tactical perfection; certainly in the last couple of years.

The difference most likely was that in the previous years, he had teammates who killed themselves to deliver him on the front. Today, they needed to work themselves out of the picture due to the more aggressive race.

But then again, he had Alaphilippe's wheel halfway up the climb but let Kreuziger get in between and when Wellens dropped, it became messy so he ended up with a gap to close. And that was too big - Alaphilippe had a very easy ride throughot the race and is two years older than the last time he rode the race and perhaps a bit stronger.

Yeah, thats a good assessment of the whole situation. Chapeau to Julian for beating such a great champion mano-a-mano, but I still think Valverde will be the better rider on Sunday considering how the two looked in Amstel - a race which in theory should be better for Alaphilippe than Valv. Also, I think Amstel and today's hard race took its toll on Valverde, he should be rested for Sunday.

Valverde will have his hands full on Sunday. This was suppose to be the race where he was the definite victor. In Liege there's going to be even more favorites...more riders with honest to goodness chances. I really see Valverde coming away with "just" second or third. Of course you can never write him off. I can just see things being ridden very aggressively.

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

From Jens_Attacks twitter

Alejandro Valverde's climbing times on Mur de Huy:
2018: 2:52
2017: 2:53
2016: 2:52
2015: 2:53
2014: 2:41 (ALL-TIME RECORD)
2006: 2:51

Valverde as solid as ever. Lotto forced a faster pace on the Mur. Very surprising Alaphilippe rides 2.48, which is the fastest time since Cherave was included and after a hard foughten race. Rodriguez and Froome did 2.49 in the Tour in 2015, but the race was restared after a huge crash on Cherave or something like that.

Interesting.

However, I also don't think he has his full muscle mass back in his injured leg. Don't know if that would have made a difference or not.

Considering his age, you could expect him to climb at a similar pace to last year (and he did), but I wouldn't expect him to be even faster. He lost fair and square.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

From Jens_Attacks twitter

Alejandro Valverde's climbing times on Mur de Huy:
2018: 2:52
2017: 2:53
2016: 2:52
2015: 2:53
2014: 2:41 (ALL-TIME RECORD)
2006: 2:51

Valverde as solid as ever. Lotto forced a faster pace on the Mur. Very surprising Alaphilippe rides 2.48, which is the fastest time since Cherave was included and after a hard foughten race. Rodriguez and Froome did 2.49 in the Tour in 2015, but the race was restared after a huge crash on Cherave or something like that.

Interesting.

However, I also don't think he has his full muscle mass back in his injured leg. Don't know if that would have made a difference or not.

Considering his age, you could expect him to climb at a similar pace to last year (and he did), but I wouldn't expect him to be even faster. He lost fair and square.

True, however, how much of not having his fully muscle mass back effected him during the climb it's self? Also an amazing time for Alaphilippe, which in truth I would not expect him to duplicate in the future.

 

[Serpentin]

With teammates that protected him all the way to the foot of the climb he would have won. Small margins.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

With teammates that protected him all the way to the foot of the climb he would have won. Small margins.

Aye, but those things make a race. They had no choice but to pull earlier so that leaves less for later...it's hard being a favorite at times.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

From Jens_Attacks twitter

Alejandro Valverde's climbing times on Mur de Huy:
2018: 2:52
2017: 2:53
2016: 2:52
2015: 2:53
2014: 2:41 (ALL-TIME RECORD)
2006: 2:51

Valverde as solid as ever. Lotto forced a faster pace on the Mur. Very surprising Alaphilippe rides 2.48, which is the fastest time since Cherave was included and after a hard foughten race. Rodriguez and Froome did 2.49 in the Tour in 2015, but the race was restared after a huge crash on Cherave or something like that.

Interesting.

However, I also don't think he has his full muscle mass back in his injured leg. Don't know if that would have made a difference or not.

Well, so far his season has been pretty much as good as last year and better than in the 3 previous years. So I think he is probably as good as he has been.

 

[Squire]

Yeah, his 'injured leg' sure doesn't seem to have hampered him in any other races. It's just unrealistic to expect that he does everything right on the day, year after year.

 

[Koronin]

Apparently in the press conference today he said he definitely wants at least 1 more contract. He said he wants to come back to the Ardennes for several more years then said he's definitely racing at least until the 2020 Olympics. Um, several is more than 2, so not sure exactly what he's thinking. Although he's always said some contradictory things about how much longer he's going to race for anyway. But we can be assured at least 2 more years. I still think it'll be a couple more years than that. I'm thinking about 5 years total, including this year. He also again said that even if his form in future years isn't as good and he's not able to win he still wants to race for awhile longer because it's still so much fun. Thus back to the he doesn't have to be winning to keep racing.

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Yeah, his 'injured leg' sure doesn't seem to have hampered him in any other races. It's just unrealistic to expect that he does everything right on the day, year after year.

He actually said he screwed up on the Mur de Huy and didn't race it properly this year. So yeah he did make a mistake this year.