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

[Blanco]

I hope he will race Emilia, it's such a nice race, and that climb suits him like a glove.

 

[King Boonen]

Not a Valverde fan, but he raced that pretty much to perfection.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Re:

I hope he will race Emilia, it's such a nice race, and that climb suits him like a glove.

Yep, that would be great. Just had a look at the stats over at PCS, and it appears Valverde has never ridden Emilia. Wonder why?

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

I hope he will race Emilia, it's such a nice race, and that climb suits him like a glove.

Yep, that would be great. Just had a look at the stats over at PCS, and it appears Valverde has never ridden Emilia. Wonder why?

He and Italy haven't always been the best of friends.

If he goes and wins Emilia then he can beat his personal best of 15 season victories in Lombardia. Pretty mad for a 38-year-old.

He will thus also surpass Boonen's number of career victories.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Would love Valverde to show of the stripes for the first time in a race like Emilia. Its a really nice race and fits him perfectly - might as well add another semiclassic to his palmarés.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

I hope he will race Emilia, it's such a nice race, and that climb suits him like a glove.

Yep, that would be great. Just had a look at the stats over at PCS, and it appears Valverde has never ridden Emilia. Wonder why?

He and Italy haven't always been the best of friends.

If he goes and wins Emilia then he can beat his personal best of 15 season victories in Lombardia. Pretty mad for a 38-year-old.

He will thus also surpass Boonen's number of career victories.

I wonder who is the most winning spanish cyclist of all time? Perurena?
https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/domingo-perurena

 

[Valv.Piti]

Thats one heck of an atypical palmarés.

But yeah, its Perurena.

 

[jaylew]

Re: Re:

I hope he will race Emilia, it's such a nice race, and that climb suits him like a glove.

Yep, that would be great. Just had a look at the stats over at PCS, and it appears Valverde has never ridden Emilia. Wonder why?

He and Italy haven't always been the best of friends.

If he goes and wins Emilia then he can beat his personal best of 15 season victories in Lombardia. Pretty mad for a 38-year-old.

He will thus also surpass Boonen's number of career victories.

I wonder who is the most winning spanish cyclist of all time? Perurena?
https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/domingo-perurena

Yes, just read yesterday that Valverde is 2 wins from tying him for the winningest Spanish rider of all time.

 

[Blanco]

Re: Re:

I hope he will race Emilia, it's such a nice race, and that climb suits him like a glove.

Yep, that would be great. Just had a look at the stats over at PCS, and it appears Valverde has never ridden Emilia. Wonder why?

He and Italy haven't always been the best of friends.

If he goes and wins Emilia then he can beat his personal best of 15 season victories in Lombardia. Pretty mad for a 38-year-old.

He will thus also surpass Boonen's number of career victories.

I wonder who is the most winning spanish cyclist of all time? Perurena?
https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/domingo-perurena

Poblet and Delio Rodriguez also have lots of wins, I counted around 120 for Poblet and some 10-15 more for Delio. Txomin Perurena also has couple of more victories than listed at PCS. Procyclingstats is not the most accurate, especially regarding older results.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

I hope he will race Emilia, it's such a nice race, and that climb suits him like a glove.

Yep, that would be great. Just had a look at the stats over at PCS, and it appears Valverde has never ridden Emilia. Wonder why?

He and Italy haven't always been the best of friends.

If he goes and wins Emilia then he can beat his personal best of 15 season victories in Lombardia. Pretty mad for a 38-year-old.

He will thus also surpass Boonen's number of career victories.

I wonder who is the most winning spanish cyclist of all time? Perurena?
https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/domingo-perurena

Poblet and Delio Rodriguez also have lots of wins, I counted around 120 for Poblet and some 10-15 more for Delio. Txomin Perurena also has couple of more victories than listed at PCS. Procyclingstats is not the most accurate, especially regarding older results.

True but this year they have made the win tally accurate for all current riders. But yeah, they are definitely not accurate for riders back in the day. That would also demand a hell of a lot of work (not that they haven't done that as it is).

 

[Koronin]

He said after the race that he can now be at peace when he retires. He really needed this race. So happy he finally got it.
Yesterday he was saying he could race again now if someone could find him a race to go to. I'd love to see him win Lombardia in the rainbow jersey. That would be so fitting. Plus it would tie his personal record for most wins in a season that he set in 2003.

I actually still wonder if he does decide to race la Vuelta after the Olympics just because he loves that race so much.

 

[Koronin]

Thought you all may like this one.

Team members deciding to dump him in the swimming pool.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Funny, I also thought about him ending his career with the Vuelta after the Olympics. That would be very fitting IMO since I assume the Vuelta is his favourite race?

Anyways, at least 1 1/2 season more of Valverde and one season in the stripes. Gotta love having him as your favourite rider.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Funny, I also thought about him ending his career with the Vuelta after the Olympics. That would be very fitting IMO since I assume the Vuelta is his favourite race?

Anyways, at least 1 1/2 season more of Valverde and one season in the stripes. Gotta love having him as your favourite rider.

Ending his career just two weeks before the Worlds?

Not gonna happen!

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Funny, I also thought about him ending his career with the Vuelta after the Olympics. That would be very fitting IMO since I assume the Vuelta is his favourite race?

Anyways, at least 1 1/2 season more of Valverde and one season in the stripes. Gotta love having him as your favourite rider.

Glad I'm not the only one with that through.

Next year is going to be a dream with him in the rainbow jersey. His excitement is so wonderful to see. He may be 38, but his enthusiasm and excitement is that of a young rider with an entire career ahead of him.

 

[joe_papp]

So Neal Rogers, who I respect as a journalist, published a Valverde commentary also on CyclingTips. It was nowhere near as insulting to AV as Caley Fretz's scandalous screed, but Neal falls into a logical trap by suggesting that the "current" generation of riders may be entirely clean (lol), but Valverde may not be clean because he's passing the same doping controls now as he was before. But the "current" generation are also passing those same controls! Arggggh!

The weekly spin: The Alejandro Valverde conundrum
by Neal Rogers

October 2, 2018
https://cyclingtips.com/2018/10/the-weekly-spin-the-alejandro-valverde-conundrum/

"...Yes, there is still doping in cycling. No, it’s not rampant as it was 10 or 20 years ago. Riders are still cheating the system, and cheating one another, but there are far fewer riders doing it, and the advantages they are gaining have been mitigated to a significant degree. From what I have seen, and heard, I believe riders born in the late-80s and 1990s are part of a cleaner, if not totally clean, generation.

I can’t say anything with certainty about Valverde. I know he has passed all his doping controls since he returned from his suspension, but he also passed all his doping controls prior to his suspension. It was a police investigation, not a doping control, that netted the Spaniard a violation.

I know that Valverde has raced at the same level, following his suspension, as he did prior to it. The same thing could not be said for riders like Basso and Contador. It’s entirely possible that a successful doped rider, winning against a doped peloton, would also be a successful clean rider winning against a clean peloton. I do know that Valverde has never shown contrition, so it’s not clear to me why anyone should give him the benefit of the doubt and believe that his views have changed since 2006, or 2009, or 2012. Maybe they have, but how would we know? Why should we believe in his results?..."

Very frustrating. Valverde just can't get a fair shake from these Anglo journalists!

This isn't intended to be a post about doping, so it shouldn't be moved to Clinic. Rather, it is criticism of coverage of Valverde in the mainstream English-speaking cycling press.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Funny, I also thought about him ending his career with the Vuelta after the Olympics. That would be very fitting IMO since I assume the Vuelta is his favourite race?

Anyways, at least 1 1/2 season more of Valverde and one season in the stripes. Gotta love having him as your favourite rider.

Ending his career just two weeks before the Worlds?

Not gonna happen!

Oh, yeah. Its in Aigle - for some reason I thought it was in Flanders. Might as well take that Worlds as well then

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

Funny, I also thought about him ending his career with the Vuelta after the Olympics. That would be very fitting IMO since I assume the Vuelta is his favourite race?

Anyways, at least 1 1/2 season more of Valverde and one season in the stripes. Gotta love having him as your favourite rider.

Ending his career just two weeks before the Worlds?

Not gonna happen!

Oh, yeah. Its in Aigle - for some reason I thought it was in Flanders. Might as well take that Worlds as well then

I think when he starts looking at all of that, he may in the end race la Vuelta and the Worlds in 2020 as well. Plus that Worlds course should be very good for him. Hmmmmm....wonder if he wins it does that mean he'll race one more year?

 

[Koronin]

Re:

So Neal Rogers, who I respect as a journalist, published a Valverde commentary also on CyclingTips. It was nowhere near as insulting to AV as Caley Fretz's scandalous screed, but Neal falls into a logical trap by suggesting that the "current" generation of riders may be entirely clean (lol), but Valverde may not be clean because he's passing the same doping controls now as he was before. But the "current" generation are also passing those same controls! Arggggh!

The weekly spin: The Alejandro Valverde conundrum
by Neal Rogers

October 2, 2018
https://cyclingtips.com/2018/10/the-weekly-spin-the-alejandro-valverde-conundrum/

"...Yes, there is still doping in cycling. No, it’s not rampant as it was 10 or 20 years ago. Riders are still cheating the system, and cheating one another, but there are far fewer riders doing it, and the advantages they are gaining have been mitigated to a significant degree. From what I have seen, and heard, I believe riders born in the late-80s and 1990s are part of a cleaner, if not totally clean, generation.

I can’t say anything with certainty about Valverde. I know he has passed all his doping controls since he returned from his suspension, but he also passed all his doping controls prior to his suspension. It was a police investigation, not a doping control, that netted the Spaniard a violation.

I know that Valverde has raced at the same level, following his suspension, as he did prior to it. The same thing could not be said for riders like Basso and Contador. It’s entirely possible that a successful doped rider, winning against a doped peloton, would also be a successful clean rider winning against a clean peloton. I do know that Valverde has never shown contrition, so it’s not clear to me why anyone should give him the benefit of the doubt and believe that his views have changed since 2006, or 2009, or 2012. Maybe they have, but how would we know? Why should we believe in his results?..."

Very frustrating. Valverde just can't get a fair shake from these Anglo journalists!

This isn't intended to be a post about doping, so it shouldn't be moved to Clinic. Rather, it is criticism of coverage of Valverde in the mainstream English-speaking cycling press.

That one was much better than the other one. Apparently I need to get an article written. Just still a bit too exited to sit down and write one. (Plus I'm getting an upgraded DVR for our Dish today).

 

[GuyIncognito]

Re: Re:

I hope he will race Emilia, it's such a nice race, and that climb suits him like a glove.

Yep, that would be great. Just had a look at the stats over at PCS, and it appears Valverde has never ridden Emilia. Wonder why?

He and Italy haven't always been the best of friends.

If he goes and wins Emilia then he can beat his personal best of 15 season victories in Lombardia. Pretty mad for a 38-year-old.

He will thus also surpass Boonen's number of career victories.

I wonder who is the most winning spanish cyclist of all time? Perurena?
https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/domingo-perurena

Poblet and Delio Rodriguez also have lots of wins, I counted around 120 for Poblet and some 10-15 more for Delio. Txomin Perurena also has couple of more victories than listed at PCS. Procyclingstats is not the most accurate, especially regarding older results.

That's putting it mildly. It's the worst of the cycling databases. At least of the 8 or so I'm aware of.
And that's not even getting into the owners' disgusting behavior towards other people.

I can't find any sources that list Poblet's wins, only a wins total. I see different numbers, but all well above 200. 262 is the highest I've seen given.

In any case, it's impossible to compare. On one hand any stage race had way more stages in the past than they do now. But now a far far higher percentage of races are bunch sprints so the fastest sprinters in the world get a huge number of wins that they wouldn't get before the 90s.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

So Neal Rogers, who I respect as a journalist, published a Valverde commentary also on CyclingTips. It was nowhere near as insulting to AV as Caley Fretz's scandalous screed, but Neal falls into a logical trap by suggesting that the "current" generation of riders may be entirely clean (lol), but Valverde may not be clean because he's passing the same doping controls now as he was before. But the "current" generation are also passing those same controls! Arggggh!

The weekly spin: The Alejandro Valverde conundrum
by Neal Rogers

October 2, 2018
https://cyclingtips.com/2018/10/the-weekly-spin-the-alejandro-valverde-conundrum/

"...Yes, there is still doping in cycling. No, it’s not rampant as it was 10 or 20 years ago. Riders are still cheating the system, and cheating one another, but there are far fewer riders doing it, and the advantages they are gaining have been mitigated to a significant degree. From what I have seen, and heard, I believe riders born in the late-80s and 1990s are part of a cleaner, if not totally clean, generation.

I can’t say anything with certainty about Valverde. I know he has passed all his doping controls since he returned from his suspension, but he also passed all his doping controls prior to his suspension. It was a police investigation, not a doping control, that netted the Spaniard a violation.

I know that Valverde has raced at the same level, following his suspension, as he did prior to it. The same thing could not be said for riders like Basso and Contador. It’s entirely possible that a successful doped rider, winning against a doped peloton, would also be a successful clean rider winning against a clean peloton. I do know that Valverde has never shown contrition, so it’s not clear to me why anyone should give him the benefit of the doubt and believe that his views have changed since 2006, or 2009, or 2012. Maybe they have, but how would we know? Why should we believe in his results?..."

Very frustrating. Valverde just can't get a fair shake from these Anglo journalists!

This isn't intended to be a post about doping, so it shouldn't be moved to Clinic. Rather, it is criticism of coverage of Valverde in the mainstream English-speaking cycling press.

Basso won one and Contador three GTs after suspension so I'm not sure what is this statement.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

That's putting it mildly. It's the worst of the cycling databases. At least of the 8 or so I'm aware of.
And that's not even getting into the owners' disgusting behavior towards other people.

I can't find any sources that list Poblet's wins, only a wins total. I see different numbers, but all well above 200. 262 is the highest I've seen given.

In any case, it's impossible to compare. On one hand any stage race had way more stages in the past than they do now. But now a far far higher percentage of races are bunch sprints so the fastest sprinters in the world get a huge number of wins that they wouldn't get before the 90s.

Is it really that bad? I think it's very useful at least for current races.

But yeah, Mr van der Zwan doesn't strike me as a sympathetic fellow in the slightest, either.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I use PCS all the time. Guess its a matter of habits, never really like CQ Ranking. Sure its not perfect, but it more often than not gets the job done. Can spend hours on a rainy day, like today.

 

[Velolover2]

Re:

I use PCS all the time. Guess its a matter of habits, never really like CQ Ranking. Sure its not perfect, but it more often than not gets the job done. Can spend hours on a rainy day, like today.

You are missing the fun part.

When I was in Denmark, I raced a rainy circuit with Skovbakkevej and Naurvej in it.

Naurvej was quite dangerous downhill because of the wet, bumpy surface but I've never felt more alive. :lol:

 

[Valv.Piti]

Wait, thats in Aalborg and on some of my training roads if I want it to hurt badly after a long ride.