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

[Escarabajo]

Re:

I never understood why he's so bad when the altitude goes over 1800m.
Cadel Evans used to be like this as well...

A lot of riders have that problem. It's natural when some riders don't respond well to lack of oxygen.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

Looking very lean, another Tour podium not impossible perhaps?

The good Valverde almost looks unhealthy which obviously is a good thing in cycling. Tbh in this Tour, everything is possible, nothing can or will surprise me.

Yes, but will all that high altitude climbing in the Alpes the team will need to give him an oxygen mask for those stages.

Oh yeah.

But judged on today, he was human again, altho it was impressive to see how he fought back... I think he will stay in the GC battle and not just give up time on purpose only because so many names are absent and such, but prob wont do much GC-wise still.

Nibali's partner for breakaways in Le Tour.

Now that would be fun to watch. Valverde needs a new partner for those type of raids since Contador retired and Nibali would be the perfect partner for it.

 

[Koronin]

Re:

I never understood why he's so bad when the altitude goes over 1800m.
Cadel Evans used to be like this as well...

Well his explanation is that he was born, raised and still lives at sea level and his body has never responded well altitude. This is an entirely believable explanation. It's also accurate as Murcia City is about a half hour drive to the beach.

 

[Blanco]

24th stage race win for Valverde, tied with Anquetil and Kelly. Only Merckx, Hinault and Indurain have more.

 

[Koronin]

According to the twitter feed of Route d'Occitanie Alejandro is the first rider to win the race in consecutive years and is the first reigning World Champion to win it.

 

[Amazinmets87]

Saw some photos of Valverde today. Man, how did he get so lean while off the bike? He almost looks emaciated

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Saw some photos of Valverde today. Man, how did he get so lean while off the bike? He almost looks emaciated

He has been training for the past 2 months. He was maybe of the bike for a few days after Liege...

 

[Nirvana]

His body is really impressive (in a bad way), I don't think I've ever seen him skinny before and has always been closer to a normal man than most cyclists but now he suddenly looks anorexic.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

Saw some photos of Valverde today. Man, how did he get so lean while off the bike? He almost looks emaciated

He has been training for the past 2 months. He was maybe of the bike for a few days after Liege...

This. I think it was closer to 2 weeks he was off the bike, however he's been training most of the past 2 months.

His body is really impressive (in a bad way), I don't think I've ever seen him skinny before and has always been closer to a normal man than most cyclists but now he suddenly looks anorexic.

Agreed. He usually looks like a normal person, but right now he looks too skinny. I'm not sure this is good for him.

 

[tobydawq]

Great. The Valverde thread is officially the new weight watchers thread after Contador's has finally gone quiet.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Re:

Saw some photos of Valverde today. Man, how did he get so lean while off the bike? He almost looks emaciated

He looks older than my grandad and he's been dead 30 odd years. :lol:

 

[Jspear]

Maybe he's gonna be able to challenge the Ineos train with his new found weight.... :surprised:

 

[mariposa]

Re: Re:

Saw some photos of Valverde today. Man, how did he get so lean while off the bike? He almost looks emaciated

He looks older than my grandad and he's been dead 30 odd years. :lol:

He hasn't been off the bike just not racing. He was out training as soon as he got back from Liege, just not at his usual intensity. He gradually built that up and included a hard week and a bit riding in the Sierra Nevada area near Granada.

Photos are never a good reference as they can be misleading. If you see him in person he looks the age he is.

 

[Koronin]

Re:

Great. The Valverde thread is officially the new weight watchers thread after Contador's has finally gone quiet.

I think in this case it's more of a shock to see him so skinny as it's not normal for him.

 

[Amazinmets87]

I'm throwing caution into the wind and getting my hopes up. Here's to hoping he unleashes hell in the low altitude high gradients this July.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

Great. The Valverde thread is officially the new weight watchers thread after Contador's has finally gone quiet.

I think in this case it's more of a shock to see him so skinny as it's not normal for him.

A bike rider with low body fat. Shocking indeed.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

I'm throwing caution into the wind and getting my hopes up. Here's to hoping he unleashes hell in the low altitude high gradients this July.

Winner of stage 6 in the soaring heat of the Vosges: Alejandro Valverde Belmonte

 

[Velolover2]

Notice the (lack of) cheeks. Never seen him so gaunt. He looks like a skeleton.

This must be what sub 5% body fat looks like on a non-bodybuilder.

 

[Amazinmets87]

Do we have wattage data for his last race? Have to imagine there's been a decrease in output

 

[Nirvana]

Re: Re:

Great. The Valverde thread is officially the new weight watchers thread after Contador's has finally gone quiet.

I think in this case it's more of a shock to see him so skinny as it's not normal for him.

A bike rider with low body fat. Shocking indeed.

The problem is that, unlike some other riders that always look like they are anorexic, he has never been like that before so we are not used to see him in this state.

 

[Koronin]

Movistar and Alejandro just announced that he's signed a new 2 year contract plus some sort of addition in which he will remain with the organization through at least 2024. He's definitely racing for 2 more years. They haven't explained with the 3 years of the contract are for and it's likely they don't know yet, just that he's going to remain with them in some capacity. He did not say he is retiring at the end of the 2021 yet either.

 

[Amazinmets87]

Looks like this disappointing season has led to renewed motivation

 

[Red Rick]

At which point do we go from "he really loves cycling" to "he must be a prisoner and the real meme cycling needs is #freevalverde"

 

[Nirvana]

Re:

Movistar and Alejandro just announced that he's signed a new 2 year contract plus some sort of addition in which he will remain with the organization through at least 2024. He's definitely racing for 2 more years. They haven't explained with the 3 years of the contract are for and it's likely they don't know yet, just that he's going to remain with them in some capacity. He did not say he is retiring at the end of the 2021 yet either.

Probably they didn't even know what will happen to the team after 2021 considering that the sponsorship extension they signed this winter with Telefónica is only for three years.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

Movistar and Alejandro just announced that he's signed a new 2 year contract plus some sort of addition in which he will remain with the organization through at least 2024. He's definitely racing for 2 more years. They haven't explained with the 3 years of the contract are for and it's likely they don't know yet, just that he's going to remain with them in some capacity. He did not say he is retiring at the end of the 2021 yet either.

Probably they didn't even know what will happen to the team after 2021 considering that the sponsorship extension they signed this winter with Telefónica is only for three years.

As the team has been around as a WT team since 1980 and was actually started in the mid '70's, I think they fully expect to either resign Movistar or be able to find a new sponsor.