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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
Don't really see Valverde as a big underachiever, outside him never winning Il Lombardia. Incredible longevity and consistency, but not the climbing peak where I'd say "multi GT winner". Maybe he could've won another Vuelta, but it's not that I consider him an underachiever because of it. Also wouldn't see him as an overachiever.
With his skillset he should/could have won practically every important race on the calendar except for the northern classics. Plus many more stages everywhere.
The man has been one of the most conservative/non attacking rider I have seen. And thats because of his lack of confidence.
If he would have had a better team could have help.
 
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With his skillset he should/could have won practically every important race on the calendar except for the northern classics. Plus many more stages everywhere.
The man has been one of the most conservative/non attacking rider I have seen. And thats because of his lack of confidence.
If he would have had a better team could have help.

I don't agree that a better team would have helped him. Most other teams likely would have tried to force him to either be a classics rider or a stage race GC rider and he would have been miserable. He also needs to be comfortable and it's unlikely he'd ever have been comfortable in a non Spanish language first team. He's said he's had offers over the years from multiple other teams that he found insane with what they were offering him and he always stayed at Movistar. When asked why he's said it's home and he's comfortable there, and that he always does better when he's comfortable. Similar reason for why he's never left Murcia and lives not too far away from where he grew up.
 
I don't agree that a better team would have helped him. Most other teams likely would have tried to force him to either be a classics rider or a stage race GC rider and he would have been miserable. He also needs to be comfortable and it's unlikely he'd ever have been comfortable in a non Spanish language first team. He's said he's had offers over the years from multiple other teams that he found insane with what they were offering him and he always stayed at Movistar. When asked why he's said it's home and he's comfortable there, and that he always does better when he's comfortable. Similar reason for why he's never left Murcia and lives not too far away from where he grew up.
Not necessarily a different team but a different mentality Movistar.
 
I remember in 2006 local commentators tipping Valrverde as a main TdF favourite together with Landis. That was my first Tour, and I hardly watched anything other than Vuelta 2005, Giro 2006 and some spring classics. So was he really that good back then (I mean TdF winning material)? Had he possibly won that Tour, his career could've been different.

Yes, I think he had a very good chance there.
 
I think the 2017 Tour is a bigger what if than 2006. He was more of a favorite in 2006 because his lack of Tour winning climbing wasn't as evident then as it would be much later. Also the 2 obvious favorites being out with Basso/Ullrich. Don't think losing the Vuelta to Vino is a positive indicator of a would be Tour winner. 2017 I can see more easily because Froome was actually beatable that year, got clean dropped at least once and maybe with bonifications to go with it Valverde might have taken the required time to eek out a very narrow win.

Valverde is a curious case in that he was one of a few of his type of rider that were world class, but the likes of Ricco and Cunego disappeared rather quickly and his niche didn't really get a new top dog until Roglic and Alaphilippe strolled in. The "other team" what if isn't about mentality for me. It's about if another team could've gotten that final step in climbing ability out of Valverde.
 
I think the 2017 Tour is a bigger what if than 2006. He was more of a favorite in 2006 because his lack of Tour winning climbing wasn't as evident then as it would be much later. Also the 2 obvious favorites being out with Basso/Ullrich. Don't think losing the Vuelta to Vino is a positive indicator of a would be Tour winner. 2017 I can see more easily because Froome was actually beatable that year, got clean dropped at least once and maybe with bonifications to go with it Valverde might have taken the required time to eek out a very narrow win.

Valverde is a curious case in that he was one of a few of his type of rider that were world class, but the likes of Ricco and Cunego disappeared rather quickly and his niche didn't really get a new top dog until Roglic and Alaphilippe strolled in. The "other team" what if isn't about mentality for me. It's about if another team could've gotten that final step in climbing ability out of Valverde.

Didn't Vino win that Vuelta more due to race craft than superior strength? It was the last Grand Tour I didn't watch in its entirety so my knowledge of it is admittedly limited.
 
I remember in 2006 local commentators tipping Valrverde as a main TdF favourite together with Landis. That was my first Tour, and I hardly watched anything other than Vuelta 2005, Giro 2006 and some spring classics. So was he really that good back then (I mean TdF winning material)? Had he possibly won that Tour, his career could've been different.

He beat Armstrong straight up on the Courcheval the year before so I guess that was one of the reasons.
 
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Didn't Vino win that Vuelta more due to race craft than superior strength? It was the last Grand Tour I didn't watch in its entirety so my knowledge of it is admittedly limited.

There is a video on youtube of the stage to Granada. Vino was both stronger and had a stronger team.

Still, however tired Valverde was from chasing, losing 90`plus seconds in under 20 minutes of riding on a fast descent and a bit of flat is still inexcusable
 
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20th top 10 GT finish is nice, extending his record is also nice, what is not nice is his activity (inactivity) during the whole season, and I particularly expected more of that at this Vuelta. He showed on couple of stages that he can still be in the mix for the win, yet he was satisfied with staying with the main guys for as much as possible, doing nothing. That's not the way he should ride, even when he hasn't got the legs. If he continues to ride his last year as this one, I would be deeply disappointed. That's not the way to say goodbye for a champion of his caliber.
 
I agree. I can see acting as a babysitter for Mas if Mas was actually a contender to win the GC. But not for an anonymous top 5.
I want to more of Vuelta Stage 7 Valverde next year. Do that 15x in major stage races and one day races and he'll get good results. Instead, we got nearly 40 Tour/Vuelta race days without a purpose. Considering the team was so terrible this year, one would think that actually getting wins should be a priority.
 
Part of the problem is that he's spent most of his racing life having little to no confidence in his abilities. Then you have the issue of his being very good at making mistakes that have cost him a bunch of wins.
Those early season one day races races in Spain ( can't remember the names) and Mallorca races where he attacked from a far were him at his confident peak. Shame he would go back into his shell after those.
 
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