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

[Bardamu]

Well, as long you're up to date from now on you'll be fine. What has come before was build-up, the season truly starts today with La Primavera.

 

[DFA123]

I think Valverde should just try to follow Alaphilippe. It seems almost certain that Alaphilippe will attack, probably with Kwiatkowski as well, which will mean the strongest two teams in the race then won't be driving the peloton so it has a great chance of working.

Of course, every other team will be trying to get on his wheel as well, but Valverde probably has the power to match the attack. A three way sprint between Valverde, Kwiat and Alaphilippe would be fascinating. I guess Kwiatkowski would be slight favourite, but any of them could win it.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Valverde vs Bernal v. 2.0 in Catalunya. He is definitely ready to take on the wunderkind and I think he will win on this route.

Disappointing sprint tho.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Valverde vs Bernal v. 2.0 in Catalunya. He is definitely ready to take on the wunderkind and I think he will win on this route.

Disappointing sprint tho.

He probably didn't care enough to sprint as he dislikes the race.

 

[Amazinmets87]

Re: Re:

Valverde vs Bernal v. 2.0 in Catalunya. He is definitely ready to take on the wunderkind and I think he will win on this route.

Disappointing sprint tho.

He probably didn't care enough to sprint as he dislikes the race.

If you care enough to position yourself in the lead group of a 300K monument you likely care enough to sprint. He might not have had the legs

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Valverde vs Bernal v. 2.0 in Catalunya. He is definitely ready to take on the wunderkind and I think he will win on this route.

Disappointing sprint tho.

He probably didn't care enough to sprint as he dislikes the race.

He clearly gifted the race, I thought that was obvious.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

Valverde vs Bernal v. 2.0 in Catalunya. He is definitely ready to take on the wunderkind and I think he will win on this route.

Disappointing sprint tho.

He probably didn't care enough to sprint as he dislikes the race.

If you care enough to position yourself in the lead group of a 300K monument you likely care enough to sprint. He might not have had the legs

I was just predicting what we will be told by Koronin later tonight.

 

[Koronin]

No idea, but there is something off this year.

Was out working so didn't watch it and don't care enough to both looking for it either.

 

[Valv.Piti]

By the way, he was completely on his own every time I saw him. This team seriously gotta step up.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

No idea, but there is something off this year.

Was out working so didn't watch it and don't care enough to both looking for it either.

If you can watch a race without the Valverde glasses it's certainly a must-watch.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Re: Re:

Valverde vs Bernal v. 2.0 in Catalunya. He is definitely ready to take on the wunderkind and I think he will win on this route.

Disappointing sprint tho.

He probably didn't care enough to sprint as he dislikes the race.

He clearly gifted the race, I thought that was obvious.

You missed the sarcasm emoji at the end of your sentence there Flo

 

[Blanco]

Re:

Valverde vs Bernal v. 2.0 in Catalunya. He is definitely ready to take on the wunderkind and I think he will win on this route.

Disappointing sprint tho.

He messed up a bit, hit the front too early along Sagan, then the other riders came from behind with more speed, he even stopped pedaling for a moment when Kwiatkowski went in front of him. But nevertheless, I doubt he would even grab a podium even without mistakes, he simply isn't at 100% for this race and you can't beat these guys if you're like that.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

Valverde vs Bernal v. 2.0 in Catalunya. He is definitely ready to take on the wunderkind and I think he will win on this route.

Disappointing sprint tho.

He messed up a bit, hit the front too early along Sagan, then the other riders came from behind with more speed, he even stopped pedaling for a moment when Kwiatkowski went in front of him. But nevertheless, I doubt he would even grab a podium even without mistakes, he simply isn't at 100% for this race and you can't beat these guys if you're like that.

Maybe he should have attacked the second Sagan hit the front. But that's not really him.

And you could argue that everybody should have done that.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

By the way, he was completely on his own every time I saw him. This team seriously gotta step up.

Was basically the first thing I saw when I turned on the TV. Valverde eating wind. He did a good job jocking for positions himself but he shouldn't have been there alone.

Don't think he could've done much more to be honest. Was one of the least active riders in the final selection and couldn't do much in the sprint. Top 10 is solid but he would really need to do TA or PN to do better here

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

No idea, but there is something off this year.

Was out working so didn't watch it and don't care enough to both looking for it either.

Man's just got his first top-10 ever in MSR and you say something is off? Maybe he is just lacking a few percent because of his age and the only thing that's off is your expectation. Just my 2c!

 

[Koronin]

Re:

By the way, he was completely on his own every time I saw him. This team seriously gotta step up.

That is a big problem and seems to be unfortunately very common with this team. This is why I said last year this team appears to be not much more than a glorified Pro Conti team.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

No idea, but there is something off this year.

Was out working so didn't watch it and don't care enough to both looking for it either.

If you can watch a race without the Valverde glasses it's certainly a must-watch.

I love Paris-Roubiax (favorite race of the year and never miss it) and I always enjoy watching California. This race just isn't usually one near the top of my list of races to go look for. Although last year I had to with what Nibali did. This year, just don't see any reason to bother.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

No idea, but there is something off this year.

Was out working so didn't watch it and don't care enough to both looking for it either.

Man's just got his first top-10 ever in MSR and you say something is off? Maybe he is just lacking a few percent because of his age and the only thing that's off is your expectation. Just my 2c!

Not specifically this race, as I said the entire season something just feels a bit off. Yes it's his best ever finish at this race. It's also just the 6th time he's ever raced it. It still doesn't seem to be one high on his list of races that are important to him.

 

[kingjr]

Same thing happened that did to Sagan, the Poggio took the best out of his legs.

 

[Velolover2]

I'm still amazed that he got a top 10 in a race that he is not a huge fan of and coming back from an illness. Valverde has showed gradual improvement in MSR: 130 > 54 > 33 > 24 > 20 > 15 > 7. A podium next year before turning 40?

I'm really looking forward to his Ronde debut.

 

[Koronin]

Re:

I'm still amazed that he got a top 10 in a race that he is not a huge fan of and coming back from an illness. Valverde has showed gradual improvement in MSR: 130 > 54 > 33 > 24 > 20 > 15 > 7. A podium next year before turning 40?

I'm really looking forward to his Ronde debut.

We'll have to wait until after he's 40 for that. He may or may not race it next year.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

I'm still amazed that he got a top 10 in a race that he is not a huge fan of and coming back from an illness. Valverde has showed gradual improvement in MSR: 130 > 54 > 33 > 24 > 20 > 15 > 7. A podium next year before turning 40?

I'm really looking forward to his Ronde debut.

We'll have to wait until after he's 40 for that. He may or may not race it next year.

?

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

No idea, but there is something off this year.

Was out working so didn't watch it and don't care enough to both looking for it either.

If you can watch a race without the Valverde glasses it's certainly a must-watch.

I love Paris-Roubiax (favorite race of the year and never miss it) and I always enjoy watching California. This race just isn't usually one near the top of my list of races to go look for. Although last year I had to with what Nibali did. This year, just don't see any reason to bother.

It was incredible, hence the must-watch comment.

But suit yourself.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

I'm still amazed that he got a top 10 in a race that he is not a huge fan of and coming back from an illness. Valverde has showed gradual improvement in MSR: 130 > 54 > 33 > 24 > 20 > 15 > 7. A podium next year before turning 40?

I'm really looking forward to his Ronde debut.

We'll have to wait until after he's 40 for that. He may or may not race it next year.

?

Because he doesn't race it very often.

[quote="Koronin":6didwwg5][quote="tobydawq":6didwwg5][quote="Koronin":6didwwg5]No idea, but there is something off this year.

Was out working so didn't watch it and don't care enough to both looking for it either.

If you can watch a race without the Valverde glasses it's certainly a must-watch.[/quote]


I love Paris-Roubiax (favorite race of the year and never miss it) and I always enjoy watching California. This race just isn't usually one near the top of my list of races to go look for. Although last year I had to with what Nibali did. This year, just don't see any reason to bother.[/quote]

It was incredible, hence the must-watch comment.

But suit yourself.[/quote]

I understood your comment. Just not interested enough to go look for it, esp with this being the first weekend of the NCAA basketball tournament.

 

[rick james]

Re: Re:

Valverde vs Bernal v. 2.0 in Catalunya. He is definitely ready to take on the wunderkind and I think he will win on this route.

Disappointing sprint tho.

He probably didn't care enough to sprint as he dislikes the race.

He clearly gifted the race, I thought that was obvious.

Lol...