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

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What will Valverde's impact be the cycling world in 2012

  • Nuclear Holocoust

    Votes: 27 100.0%
  • Total voters
    27
tobydawq

tobydawq

Nov 16, 2013
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Re: Re:

Valv.Piti said:
Blanco said:
He's going to do his own race tomorrow. He's not going to watch or help Quintana. If he hangs on with the best, he's genuine contender for the win. If he drops, he'll help Quintana in the remainder of the race.

Grande win today. He proved once more that he is the king of the uphill sprints.
Click to expand...
Agree. Tomorrow is a super important day for Alejandro.

Julian would never, ever be able to beat Sagan on such a finish. Valverde still is the overall best and most complete rider in the world for uphill sprints.
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Sorry but I think it proves nothing of the sort. Having watched Sagan hubbling through the two flat sprints it seems clear that sprinting-wise he is not yet at the top level. He's surely getting close to top form aerobically but to me he still seems to be below his best when it comes to sprinting and normally, he would win yesterday.
 
T

toolittle

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Re:

Koronin said:
A Spanish reported finally got Alejandro to say today that he does want to win GC at la Vuelta this year. Yes it's in Spanish.

http://laguiadelciclismo.com/carreras/vuelta-a-espana-2018/noticias/alejandro-valverde-quiero-ganar-la-vuelta-pero-esta-muy-dificil/
Click to expand...

That is bad.
An Vuelta title cannot make his successful career to be more successful.
GT focus means decrease of one day classic abilities.
Go away with World Championship or an Olympic RR win is a good ending.
If not, GDL is a good addition to his tally achievement.

Why looks for Vuelta? Colombians are there.
Target Vuelta means less chance in GDL and WC.
Sadly to see another traditional Valverde closely miss in both of the races.
 
El Pistolero

El Pistolero

Jul 16, 2010
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Re: Re:

Valv.Piti said:
Blanco said:
He's going to do his own race tomorrow. He's not going to watch or help Quintana. If he hangs on with the best, he's genuine contender for the win. If he drops, he'll help Quintana in the remainder of the race.

Grande win today. He proved once more that he is the king of the uphill sprints.
Click to expand...
Agree. Tomorrow is a super important day for Alejandro.

Julian would never, ever be able to beat Sagan on such a finish. Valverde still is the overall best and most complete rider in the world for uphill sprints.
Click to expand...

Sagan is far removed from his best shape lol. We've seen for years now that Valverde is nowhere in the uphill sprints at the Tour. Honestly, he's not even in the top 5. The only thing that sets Valverde apart is his amazing consistency throughout the season.

But when the best riders of the world are peaking for the most important race in the world Valverde will never win. He hasn't won a Tour stage since 2012 (which was from the most pathetically weak break I've ever seen in the Tour).
 
Koronin

Koronin

Oct 14, 2017
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Re: Re:

toolittle said:
Koronin said:
A Spanish reported finally got Alejandro to say today that he does want to win GC at la Vuelta this year. Yes it's in Spanish.

http://laguiadelciclismo.com/carreras/vuelta-a-espana-2018/noticias/alejandro-valverde-quiero-ganar-la-vuelta-pero-esta-muy-dificil/
Click to expand...

That is bad.
An Vuelta title cannot make his successful career to be more successful.
GT focus means decrease of one day classic abilities.
Go away with World Championship or an Olympic RR win is a good ending.
If not, GDL is a good addition to his tally achievement.

Why looks for Vuelta? Colombians are there.
Target Vuelta means less chance in GDL and WC.
Sadly to see another traditional Valverde closely miss in both of the races.
Click to expand...


I think what we've got is someone who wants both desperately and is the only one who could actually go after both with a shot and will most likely, unfortunately end up with podiums for both again. The one thing I think people do forget is the Vuelta is his favorite race of the entire season. He loves the Vuelta, which he's stated many times. In some ways I do think he gains strength when racing in Spain in front of his friends and family and a large portion of his fans (plus the heat).
 
Cance > TheRest

Cance > TheRest

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Re: Re:

toolittle said:
Koronin said:
A Spanish reported finally got Alejandro to say today that he does want to win GC at la Vuelta this year. Yes it's in Spanish.

http://laguiadelciclismo.com/carreras/vuelta-a-espana-2018/noticias/alejandro-valverde-quiero-ganar-la-vuelta-pero-esta-muy-dificil/
Click to expand...

That is bad.
An Vuelta title cannot make his successful career to be more successful.
GT focus means decrease of one day classic abilities.
Go away with World Championship or an Olympic RR win is a good ending.
If not, GDL is a good addition to his tally achievement.

Why looks for Vuelta? Colombians are there.
Target Vuelta means less chance in GDL and WC.
Sadly to see another traditional Valverde closely miss in both of the races.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Although I can understand why some fans here want him to prove that he can still compete for podiums in a grand tour, the marginal value of another Vuelta Podium ought to be low, even from Valverde's own perspective. I hope he will not burn himself out before the Worlds.
 
Valv.Piti

Valv.Piti

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Re:

Asero831 said:
Is it because of the altitude that he lost some time.
If that is the case, he only needs to worry about stage 19.
Click to expand...
For some reason he has always had problems on this climb, but its not particularly high altitude so shouldnt be the biggest problem. But could be. I will wait for the weekend to draw any real conclusions.
 
Koronin

Koronin

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Valv.Piti said:
Still isn't finished as a GC-contender. Two interesting stages ahead!
Click to expand...


His comments today, basically he's happy where he is, feels he's still in good shape for the podium and said something about not wanting to waist any energy today. Then his typical comments about recovery being important for the next two stages.
 
Koronin

Koronin

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Re: Re:

Valv.Piti said:
Valv.Piti said:
Still isn't finished as a GC-contender. Two interesting stages ahead!
Click to expand...
Yep. Kinda cute how DT declared that the 38 year old, washed up, finished as a GC rider was done after Covatilla where he literally always has sucked. Covadonga is a climb that suits him very well, maybe even a stage win.
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He said today after the stage that yesterday's climb is horrible for him and the worst for him of these three days of climbing in a row. He also said he totally screwed up the finish of today's stage as he thought the finish was much harder and steeper. Yet again proving he's still prone to making errors that cost him.
 
Koronin

Koronin

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Re:

Amazinmets87 said:
Let's say Valverde matches Quintana on tomorrow's climb and takes roughly 1:00 in the proceeding ITT. Any change in leadership hierarchy?

Not sure how much an official change would matter as it seems Valverde is riding his own race
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I don't think it would make any difference. You are correct Valverde is riding his own race. He said in the first week that he has full freedom to race the Vuelta however he wants and he's free to go after stages and/or GC. Somewhere this week, he said that part of his agreement to go to the Tour (which he had made clear he did not want to do) was that he would not only not be asked to do any work for anyone at the Vuelta but that he would be free to race the Vuelta however he choose. Also remember Valverde is team leader regardless and Quintana is race leader. Plus I wouldn't be shocked if Valverde is more than happy to share the leadership responsibilities with someone else esp when it's not affecting his race at all.
 
Blanco

Blanco

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Re:

Amazinmets87 said:
Let's say Valverde matches Quintana on tomorrow's climb and takes roughly 1:00 in the proceeding ITT. Any change in leadership hierarchy?

Not sure how much an official change would matter as it seems Valverde is riding his own race
Click to expand...

If that appears to be the case tomorrow, Valverde will continue to ride his own race, but Quintana won't.
 
tobydawq

tobydawq

Nov 16, 2013
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Extremely encouraging ride today, and to hear him say that he probably should have won is quite surprising, I must say.

It could be a costly mistake not to know the finish better because if he indeed had won, he would now be within 10 seconds of Yates instead of 20 seconds after - and this race seems to depend on the seconds. But then again, why couldn't he outsprint López, if he had such an excess of power left at the end?

It has been a huge relief to see him not working for Quintana, and the hope of a second Vuelta win is growing. I think tomorrow is a day to survive, and if he does that well, we could be looking at a 38 year-old in red after Tuesday's stage.
 
Koronin

Koronin

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Re:

tobydawq said:
Extremely encouraging ride today, and to hear him say that he probably should have won is quite surprising, I must say.

It could be a costly mistake not to know the finish better because if he indeed had won, he would now be within 10 seconds of Yates instead of 20 seconds after - and this race seems to depend on the seconds. But then again, why couldn't he outsprint López, if he had such an excess of power left at the end?

It has been a huge relief to see him not working for Quintana, and the hope of a second Vuelta win is growing. I think tomorrow is a day to survive, and if he does that well, we could be looking at a 38 year-old in red after Tuesday's stage.
Click to expand...

He made some comment that once he realized he had screwed up that finishing 2nd or 3rd didn't make any difference to him. With that comment who knows if he did or didn't fully open up his sprint and actually fight for 2nd. It was an odd comment.

I'm so with you that it's a huge relief to see that he's been riding for himself and not asked to do anything for Quintana. He did say that yesterday was the worst of these three climbs for him, so that is hopeful for tomorrow and even more hopeful for Tuesday.
 
Valv.Piti

Valv.Piti

Aug 3, 2015
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Re:

tobydawq said:
Extremely encouraging ride today, and to hear him say that he probably should have won is quite surprising, I must say.

It could be a costly mistake not to know the finish better because if he indeed had won, he would now be within 10 seconds of Yates instead of 20 seconds after - and this race seems to depend on the seconds. But then again, why couldn't he outsprint López, if he had such an excess of power left at the end?

It has been a huge relief to see him not working for Quintana, and the hope of a second Vuelta win is growing. I think tomorrow is a day to survive, and if he does that well, we could be looking at a 38 year-old in red after Tuesday's stage.
Click to expand...
How are you surving Rolf Sørensen this Vuelta? I must admit he really gets on my nerves.
 
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