Official Valverde thread.

[Netserk]

Still plenty of years left before he hits his Horner-peak.

 

[El Pistolero]

Wouldn't surprise me if this guy is on some very dangerous experimental stuff.

Biggest cheater in cycling history for sure.

 

[Rollthedice]

This clean Valverde is clearly superior to the doped Valverde. Obviously drugs don't work but apparently some screws in the leg do, especially when you're 38. Amazing.

 

[Netserk]

Re:

Wouldn't surprise me if this guy is on some very dangerous experimental stuff.

Biggest cheater in cycling history for sure.

It could (in part also) be down to having perfected his program over the years, and that the passport stabilizes what you can get away with.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Wouldn't surprise me if this guy is on some very dangerous experimental stuff.

Biggest cheater in cycling history for sure.

It could (in part also) be down to having perfected his program over the years, and that the passport stabilizes what you can get away with.

And he's the only cyclist that gets better every year despite being very old already?

Yeah, I don't buy it for once. Without dope this guy would be in a retirement home already wearing a wig.

Cycling needs to get rid of Froome, Valverde and Sky and the sport will be much better for it.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Re:

Wouldn't surprise me if this guy is on some very dangerous experimental stuff.

Biggest cheater in cycling history for sure.

It could (in part also) be down to having perfected his program over the years, and that the passport stabilizes what you can get away with.

I never thought that Valverde was clean, and there was proof that he wasn't, but this bold sentence might have something to do with it. More to the detriment of others

I have seen it so many times with Latin Americans when they are expose to the bio passport their performance changes. To others it just enhances them, or makes them look better.

 

[meat puppet]

Re: Re:

Wouldn't surprise me if this guy is on some very dangerous experimental stuff.

Biggest cheater in cycling history for sure.

It could (in part also) be down to having perfected his program over the years, and that the passport stabilizes what you can get away with.

And he's the only cyclist that gets better every year despite being very old already?

Yeah, I don't buy it for once. Without dope this guy would be in a retirement home already wearing a wig.

Cycling needs to get rid of Froome, Valverde and Sky and the sport will be much better for it.

Sure. And bust a cap into Gilbert and QS while at it. Last Ronde was beyond ridiculous.

I think netserk's point about having perfected the program within margins of safety is interesting. But even so his feats are still perplexing as he improves while aging. This is getting tiresome.

 

[portugal11]

Re:

This clean Valverde is clearly superior to the doped Valverde. Obviously drugs don't work but apparently some screws in the leg do, especially when you're 38. Amazing.

that's disturbing really. This "clean" valverde is better than a fully doped valverde

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Remember, Ally Vally had three and a half years between Operación Puerto and actually being banned, during which he was winning bucketloads and getting tested loads, but coming back clean all the time. Whatever program he was on during that period clearly, clearly worked, as he was still winning bucketloads and not testing positive. I think it's fairly fair to assume that he would go back to it. It's hard to say he's "getting better" with age, he's just not getting worse and given his age and the injuries that you'd have thought would mount up by now that's the issue. These are February races of course, and Valverde being good from start to finish in the season is hardly news to anybody, though of course he's also got to put his foot down early now he's competing with two co-leaders to make sure he gets to lead the races he's intent on leading.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Wouldn't surprise me if this guy is on some very dangerous experimental stuff.

Biggest cheater in cycling history for sure.

It could (in part also) be down to having perfected his program over the years, and that the passport stabilizes what you can get away with.

And he's the only cyclist that gets better every year despite being very old already?

Yeah, I don't buy it for once. Without dope this guy would be in a retirement home already wearing a wig.

Cycling needs to get rid of Froome, Valverde and Sky and the sport will be much better for it.

Sure. And bust a cap into Gilbert and QS while at it. Last Ronde was beyond ridiculous.

I think netserk's point about having perfected the program within margins of safety is interesting. But even so his feats are still perplexing as he improves while aging. This is getting tiresome.

I don't think Valverde's that perplexing. His dominance is surely just a combination of being a massive natural talent, a decent responder with a well dialled in program, huge dedication to his sport, and a lack of quality opposition in week long stage races and one day races these days.

I'm not sure he is improving physically with age. His sprint, for example, although still very good, is much worse now than 15 years age. Just improving tactically and racing against weaker riders (and also fewer riders doing ridiculous full *** doping like in the first half of his career).

 

[Robert5091]

He's a modern day Dorian Gray.

 

[armchairclimber]

I used to be irritated by him. Now I'm just a massive fan. Whatever he is doing, he ain't alone .... he's just a great racer with it.... and a total nut. The prep he put in for Abu Dhabi was way beyond what his rivals did (and I don't mean his chemical programme .... as has been pointed out, he has had years to hone that).

As for age, 38 these days is not that old. Many boxers are actually at their best in their mid-thirties (good ring craft and a highly developed aerobic system). In mountain running, you are only just a vet at 35 ... and there are mountain runners in the uk (clean ones) who are still right up at championship level in their fifties.... though I admit, they are exceptional.

 

[glassmoon]

there isn't any clean rider in the pro peloton (at least no one with any results or from mid-to-top-tier domestics) so... I like Piti. He's entertaining and combative in almost all races.

 

[GraftPunk]

Re:

I used to be irritated by him. Now I'm just a massive fan. Whatever he is doing, he ain't alone .... he's just a great racer with it.... and a total nut. The prep he put in for Abu Dhabi was way beyond what his rivals did (and I don't mean his chemical programme .... as has been pointed out, he has had years to hone that).



As for age, 38 these days is not that old. Many boxers are actually at their best in their mid-thirties (good ring craft and a highly developed aerobic system). In mountain running, you are only just a vet at 35 ... and there are mountain runners in the uk (clean ones) who are still right up at championship level in their fifties.... though I admit, they are exceptional.

Same here, he used to irritate/frustrate me, but he's grown on me in the last couple of years.

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

Wouldn't surprise me if this guy is on some very dangerous experimental stuff.

Biggest cheater in cycling history for sure.

It could (in part also) be down to having perfected his program over the years, and that the passport stabilizes what you can get away with.

And he's the only cyclist that gets better every year despite being very old already?

Yeah, I don't buy it for once. Without dope this guy would be in a retirement home already wearing a wig.

Cycling needs to get rid of Froome, Valverde and Sky and the sport will be much better for it.

He's 37 not 67!

 

[papisimo98]

Not that anyone cares, but on my part, Bala is easy to like and almost root for at this point.
He entered with Kelme in the blood doping era known as the "Undefeated One". He has always been at the front of the race, since the beginning.
Also, he is one of the few that actually was banned due to OP. Most got off with no ban what so ever.
He never made a huge transformation such as say, Froome, Wiggins, or Armstrong. Those are the ones that I have a hard time with.
Dude is a bike racer.

 

[veganrob]

All things being equal, he is the most talented rider there is today and has been for some time. I always root for him

 

[Blanco]

Re:

Not that anyone cares, but on my part, Bala is easy to like and almost root for at this point.
He entered with Kelme in the blood doping era known as the "Undefeated One". He has always been at the front of the race, since the beginning.
Also, he is one of the few that actually was banned due to OP. Most got off with no ban what so ever.
He never made a huge transformation such as say, Froome, Wiggins, or Armstrong. Those are the ones that I have a hard time with.
Dude is a bike racer.

Agree on every word!

 

[dolophonic]

Re:

Not that anyone cares, but on my part, Bala is easy to like and almost root for at this point.
He entered with Kelme in the blood doping era known as the "Undefeated One". He has always been at the front of the race, since the beginning.
Also, he is one of the few that actually was banned due to OP. Most got off with no ban what so ever.
He never made a huge transformation such as say, Froome, Wiggins, or Armstrong. Those are the ones that I have a hard time with.
Dude is a bike racer.

Agree 100%... he is a great racer. I enjoy watching him race. He did the crime and the time...

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

The culture of this forum is such that quite a lot of people end up preferring the confirmed dopers to the probable or possible dopers and the shameless to those who proclaim their cleanliness.

 

[Blanco]

Re:

The culture of this forum is such that quite a lot of people end up preferring the confirmed dopers to the probable or possible dopers and the shameless to those who proclaim their cleanliness.

If you have in mind Valverde, as a confirmed doper, and Froome, as a probable or possible doper, I prefer confirmed one.
But if you have in mind as probable or possible dopers Bardet, Uran, Chaves..., then I prefer possible ones.

 

[Tonton]

Re: Re:

Not that anyone cares, but on my part, Bala is easy to like and almost root for at this point.
He entered with Kelme in the blood doping era known as the "Undefeated One". He has always been at the front of the race, since the beginning.
Also, he is one of the few that actually was banned due to OP. Most got off with no ban what so ever.
He never made a huge transformation such as say, Froome, Wiggins, or Armstrong. Those are the ones that I have a hard time with.
Dude is a bike racer.

Agree 100%... he is a great racer. I enjoy watching him race. He did the crime and the time...

....and keeps doing the crime. Smarter than Ricco. I give him that. I see him as a joke like Haimar and his top-10s. A story line, a thread, a soap opera. Hoe great is he? We'll never know. So tainted that I can't root for him to win a GT or anything that he hasn't won before (i.e. RRWC). I'm done being mad that he's still in the game: I just laugh. The butt of the joke is cycling, its credibility, but when I see how Pantani gets revered, I'm not surprised.

 

[ClassicomanoLuigi]

Re: Re:

Agree 100%... he is a great racer. I enjoy watching him race. He did the crime and the time...

Superman Lopez agrees too...

Miguel Angel Lopez: Alejandro Valverde es mi Idolo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pu555qTMe8

 

[brownbobby]

Re:

Not that anyone cares, but on my part, Bala is easy to like and almost root for at this point.
He entered with Kelme in the blood doping era known as the "Undefeated One". He has always been at the front of the race, since the beginning.
Also, he is one of the few that actually was banned due to OP. Most got off with no ban what so ever.
He never made a huge transformation such as say, Froome, Wiggins, or Armstrong. Those are the ones that I have a hard time with.
Dude is a bike racer.

Oh yes, the good ole good dopers.....

'Never made a huge transformation'.....so what are we to believe? That doping never really did that much for him. Dude was a huge natural talent? Or alternative theory, dude was on a programme from a very young age, gets himself a pro contract, then continues that programme. No transformation to see here...

Then we've got the bad dopers....the ones with no natural talent who just happened to come across some magical programme half way through their careers? Alternative theory....these are the guys with the real talent, forged themselves careers in the pro ranks with little or no doping, then realised they needed to get on the full programme like the others to reach the top.....see the ridiculous transformation!

Gotta love the good old original dopers who've been at it from the start....

 

[brownbobby]

Re: Re:

Gotta love the good old original dopers who've been at it from the start....

Valverde can be trusted to be untrustworthy, that's why a lot of fans still like him.
And individualism as a cyclist with panache, he doped through all the years of sleaze, survived as grizzled veteran, and still has some flair about him.

That still compares favorably, for example, to Team Sky, which is like a fascist parade procession, who meanwhile moralize about what they are doing. Or US Postal, which had a basically fascist influence in cycling for a long time, with boring outcomes. Valverde is a more popular character, by having any character in the first place. He also has good relations in the sport going back a long time to being friends with some of the great talents he rode with on early teams

'can be trusted to be untrustworthy'......I like that :lol: