Official Valverde thread.

[lartiste]

Re:

And finally:
Nowadays, he is probably the most famous representative of the darknest era od cycling, bloody bags era.
That's enough to wish him to win nothing, retire as soon as possible.

When commenting Froome, it will be better to post it in Froome's topic ... .

 

[Koronin]

Re:

And finally:
Nowadays, he is probably the most famous representative of the darknest era od cycling, bloody bags era.
That's enough to wish him to win nothing, retire as soon as possible.

You want the crazy part about this whole thing? He's actually admitted that his doping ban has greatly extended his racing career. He said this back in 2016 that if he hadn't have had the year and a half forced time off where he was able to mentally turn off he'd have been retired before then and is currently racing on borrowed time. As for when will he actually retire, only he knows and I don't think he really knows yet. He's said maybe 2020 or maybe not. He's also said that as long as he's having so much fun and is still capable of winning why should he think about retiring. He'll retire when he's ready, which who knows when that will be. Last year when he got hurt he kept saying over and over, I'm not ready, I don't want to go.

Now, I will thank you for having the respect for him and his family that you do want to be happy and healthy in retirement so he can enjoy his family.

 

[silvergrenade]

Valverde: That's a confirmation I did things right for the past month

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/valverde-thats-a-confirmation-i-did-things-right-for-the-past-month/

Yup.
Confirmation that all the BBs stored for the Tour are good.
Full of RBCs for you Piti. :lol:

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Still he's not any worse than mr huff and puff making everyone a fool 3 GT's in a row

 

[dacooley]

Re:

Still he's not any worse than mr huff and puff making everyone a fool 3 GT's in a row

he's not worse, he's just weaker.

 

[silvergrenade]

Re:

Still he's not any worse than mr huff and puff making everyone a fool 3 GT's in a row

So?
My post has nothing to do with Froome.

 

[silvergrenade]

Re: Re:

Still he's not any worse than mr huff and puff making everyone a fool 3 GT's in a row

he's not worse, he's just weaker.

Can't compete with a legend. That's fine. There can be only 1 in a few generations

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

And finally:
Nowadays, he is probably the most famous representative of the darknest era od cycling, bloody bags era.
That's enough to wish him to win nothing, retire as soon as possible.

When commenting Froome, it will be better to post it in Froome's topic ... .

I approve of this post. Thumbs up!

 

[rick james]

Aye, he’s responded well

 

[Angliru]

Re:

And finally:
Nowadays, he is probably the most famous representative of the darknest era od cycling, bloody bags era.
That's enough to wish him to win nothing, retire as soon as possible.

...and yet you passionately root for a team and a rider that are mirror images of teams and riders of the past that contributed to the sport's dark reputation. The very team and riders that are dominating the sport in stage racing, convincingly beating riders that have shady pasts that many of your ilk claim are still using PED's. This same team that I'm sure deep in the hearts of many blind supporters, believe are doing it clean and by nature of their superior science and other insulting statements used to explain their success.

And the bolded part of your post, I wish the same when it comes to Moscon...the sooner he leaves the sport, the better it will be.

 

[Kokoso]

Re: Re:

And finally:
Nowadays, he is probably the most famous representative of the darknest era od cycling, bloody bags era.
That's enough to wish him to win nothing, retire as soon as possible.

You want the crazy part about this whole thing? He's actually admitted that his doping ban has greatly extended his racing career. He said this back in 2016 that if he hadn't have had the year and a half forced time off where he was able to mentally turn off he'd have been retired before then and is currently racing on borrowed time.

That might be pile of crap as well. Anyhow, what's crazy about that? Nothing.

 

[Amazinmets87]

Bala must be salivating at this years Vuelta parcours. It's often claimed that riders from countries that historically that turn a blind eye (or outright enable) to doping have a distinct clinic advantage at races on their home soil.

How credible is this claim?

 

[Rollthedice]

He is back. Looking at his fellow top 10 final GC during the Vuelta where he had his first stage win, 150 years ago, it's a who's who in dopeology. But that we already knew.

 

[Fergoose]

Re:

He is back. Looking at his fellow top 10 final GC during the Vuelta where he had his first stage win, 150 years ago, it's a who's who in dopeology. But that we already knew.

Same as it ever was. We may have the most geriatric GT winner since Horner. It'd be another blow for the credibility of the Vuelta after Horner, Froome & Cobo (which in my opinion are a trio of ludicrous winners). It's almost like riders feel far more confident that they won't get caught in Spain.

 

[veganrob]

Re: Re:

He is back. Looking at his fellow top 10 final GC during the Vuelta where he had his first stage win, 150 years ago, it's a who's who in dopeology. But that we already knew.

Same as it ever was. We may have the most geriatric GT winner since Horner. It'd be another blow for the credibility of the Vuelta after Horner, Froome & Cobo (which in my opinion are a trio of ludicrous winners). It's almost like riders feel far more confident that they won't get caught in Spain.

And it doesn't even matter the nationality. Not like the Tour which would rather have crackers winning. :lol:

 

[ClassicomanoLuigi]

Dodgy, sleazy past, and may to this day be on some kind of doping regimen - but a very entertaining racer, and furthermore Valverde does not moralize about "a new clean era", or "zero tolerance", nor feign shock about there being doping in pro cycling. He just keeps his mouth shut. That's why his fans see Valverde more as a 'rascal' than a 'villain'. And he is revered by some younger pros such as Lopez or Pantano, they praise Valverde and wanted to be like him when they were starting out in their cycling careers

 

[Fergoose]

Dodgy, sleazy past, and may to this day be on some kind of doping regimen - but a very entertaining racer, and furthermore Valverde does not moralize about "a new clean era", or "zero tolerance", nor feign shock about there being doping in pro cycling. He just keeps his mouth shut. That's why his fans see Valverde more as a 'rascal' than a 'villain'. And he is revered by some younger pros such as Lopez or Pantano, they praise Valverde and wanted to be like him when they were starting out in their cycling careers

Yes. I find it baffling that some "fans" of the sport will wilfully endorse brazen cheats and condemn others simply because of their PR stance. You wouldn't do that if someone stole from you or assaulted you - you'd just think that they were a swine.

Cheering the likes of Vino at worlds, Horner in the Vuelta and Rasmussen at the Tour is difficult for some, like me, to grasp. The most extreme, brazen examples of doping bring the sport into disrepute. Valverde has peaked (relative to the peloton) after hitting 35 years of age and that is simply farcical.

 

[Black Betsy]

Re:

And finally:
Nowadays, he is probably the most famous representative of the darknest era od cycling, bloody bags era.
That's enough to wish him to win nothing, retire as soon as possible.

Dunno for this (particularly the "darkest era") but surely he is the most famous representative of Valverde surname in cycling.

 

[markene2]

Dodgy, sleazy past, and may to this day be on some kind of doping regimen - but a very entertaining racer, and furthermore Valverde does not moralize about "a new clean era", or "zero tolerance", nor feign shock about there being doping in pro cycling. He just keeps his mouth shut. That's why his fans see Valverde more as a 'rascal' than a 'villain'. And he is revered by some younger pros such as Lopez or Pantano, they praise Valverde and wanted to be like him when they were starting out in their cycling careers

Yes. I find it baffling that some "fans" of the sport will wilfully endorse brazen cheats and condemn others simply because of their PR stance. You wouldn't do that if someone stole from you or assaulted you - you'd just think that they were a swine.

Cheering the likes of Vino at worlds, Horner in the Vuelta and Rasmussen at the Tour is difficult for some, like me, to grasp. The most extreme, brazen examples of doping bring the sport into disrepute. Valverde has peaked (relative to the peloton) after hitting 35 years of age and that is simply farcical.

All of those riders where interesting and had panache, who cares if they dope, this sport will always be a cesspool and a freakshow. Pluss everyone loves a underdog, it's that simple

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Dodgy, sleazy past, and may to this day be on some kind of doping regimen - but a very entertaining racer, and furthermore Valverde does not moralize about "a new clean era", or "zero tolerance", nor feign shock about there being doping in pro cycling. He just keeps his mouth shut. That's why his fans see Valverde more as a 'rascal' than a 'villain'. And he is revered by some younger pros such as Lopez or Pantano, they praise Valverde and wanted to be like him when they were starting out in their cycling careers

Yes. I find it baffling that some "fans" of the sport will wilfully endorse brazen cheats and condemn others simply because of their PR stance. You wouldn't do that if someone stole from you or assaulted you - you'd just think that they were a swine.

Cheering the likes of Vino at worlds, Horner in the Vuelta and Rasmussen at the Tour is difficult for some, like me, to grasp. The most extreme, brazen examples of doping bring the sport into disrepute. Valverde has peaked (relative to the peloton) after hitting 35 years of age and that is simply farcical.

Vino at the Olympics was different though. That wasn't about cheering Vino so much as all of the pre-race bluster. Pat McQuaid was there to present the gold medal. This was his baby - it was all about the culmination of the rebirth of cycling as a clean sport, with, on the back of the victory for Wiggins in the Tour, was expected to be Cavendish or some other youngish gun that they could get behind as a figurehead for the new, clean cycling. And because by this point most fans were well aware that McQuaid had been at least aware of, and likely complicit in, the whole Armstrong debacle, the idea that he would take credit for the sport's reinvention was loathsome and distasteful for a large number of fans, both those who thought the sport hadn't cleaned up and who baulked at the sight of Sky doing a dead-on impersonation of US Postal in the name of clean cycling all season long, and those who thought the sport had indeed cleaned up but did not like the idea of the very man who presided over much of the sport's worst days taking the credit for it on a global scale. So, seeing it completely blow up in his face as he had to hang the medal round the neck of a man who more or less defined the template for an unrepentant doper, a man they could never claim as the face of the new clean cycling in a million years, was far more satisfying for many fans than it would have been had it just been your everyday one-day race with Vino winning. Remember, self-same Vino was booed to the line in Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

 

[gillan1969]

Dodgy, sleazy past, and may to this day be on some kind of doping regimen - but a very entertaining racer, and furthermore Valverde does not moralize about "a new clean era", or "zero tolerance", nor feign shock about there being doping in pro cycling. He just keeps his mouth shut. That's why his fans see Valverde more as a 'rascal' than a 'villain'. And he is revered by some younger pros such as Lopez or Pantano, they praise Valverde and wanted to be like him when they were starting out in their cycling careers

Yes. I find it baffling that some "fans" of the sport will wilfully endorse brazen cheats and condemn others simply because of their PR stance. You wouldn't do that if someone stole from you or assaulted you - you'd just think that they were a swine.

Cheering the likes of Vino at worlds, Horner in the Vuelta and Rasmussen at the Tour is difficult for some, like me, to grasp. The most extreme, brazen examples of doping bring the sport into disrepute. Valverde has peaked (relative to the peloton) after hitting 35 years of age and that is simply farcical.

nobody thinks they been stolen from...everyone in the pro ranks knows the score...everyone

edited for common sense below

the above excludes Froome...he's stolen from everyone...

 

[Koronin]

Dodgy, sleazy past, and may to this day be on some kind of doping regimen - but a very entertaining racer, and furthermore Valverde does not moralize about "a new clean era", or "zero tolerance", nor feign shock about there being doping in pro cycling. He just keeps his mouth shut. That's why his fans see Valverde more as a 'rascal' than a 'villain'. And he is revered by some younger pros such as Lopez or Pantano, they praise Valverde and wanted to be like him when they were starting out in their cycling careers

To add more to the bolded comment, for many young Spaniards starting or even in the middle of their careers he's a hero. Several of the young Spaniards as Movistar have said that they are lucky to get the chance to race with him and learn from him. This year Landa said to a Spanish reporter that several years ago he had the chance to race with Contador and didn't take it. Now Contador is retired. When Movistar offered him a contract he said he had to take it and he'd have regretted it for the rest of his life if he didn't. He missed an opportunity to learn from Contador he couldn't miss an opportunity to learn from Valverde. He said they are his heroes and you just don't get the chance to race with and learn from your hero very often.
One other point is Valverde is very well liked throughout the entire peloton.

 

[burning]

Dodgy, sleazy past, and may to this day be on some kind of doping regimen - but a very entertaining racer, and furthermore Valverde does not moralize about "a new clean era", or "zero tolerance", nor feign shock about there being doping in pro cycling. He just keeps his mouth shut. That's why his fans see Valverde more as a 'rascal' than a 'villain'. And he is revered by some younger pros such as Lopez or Pantano, they praise Valverde and wanted to be like him when they were starting out in their cycling careers

Yes. I find it baffling that some "fans" of the sport will wilfully endorse brazen cheats and condemn others simply because of their PR stance. You wouldn't do that if someone stole from you or assaulted you - you'd just think that they were a swine.

Cheering the likes of Vino at worlds, Horner in the Vuelta and Rasmussen at the Tour is difficult for some, like me, to grasp. The most extreme, brazen examples of doping bring the sport into disrepute. Valverde has peaked (relative to the peloton) after hitting 35 years of age and that is simply farcical.

Vino at the Olympics was different though. That wasn't about cheering Vino so much as all of the pre-race bluster. Pat McQuaid was there to present the gold medal. This was his baby - it was all about the culmination of the rebirth of cycling as a clean sport, with, on the back of the victory for Wiggins in the Tour, was expected to be Cavendish or some other youngish gun that they could get behind as a figurehead for the new, clean cycling. And because by this point most fans were well aware that McQuaid had been at least aware of, and likely complicit in, the whole Armstrong debacle, the idea that he would take credit for the sport's reinvention was loathsome and distasteful for a large number of fans, both those who thought the sport hadn't cleaned up and who baulked at the sight of Sky doing a dead-on impersonation of US Postal in the name of clean cycling all season long, and those who thought the sport had indeed cleaned up but did not like the idea of the very man who presided over much of the sport's worst days taking the credit for it on a global scale. So, seeing it completely blow up in his face as he had to hang the medal round the neck of a man who more or less defined the template for an unrepentant doper, a man they could never claim as the face of the new clean cycling in a million years, was far more satisfying for many fans than it would have been had it just been your everyday one-day race with Vino winning. Remember, self-same Vino was booed to the line in Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

I did not care about Vino winning that much when he just won. I was just laughing my ass off due to fact that he likely bought the gold medal. However, after seeing this reaction from British press, I started to cheer for his win.

 

[Escarabajo]

Was that real????
That would be the worst journalism in the sports of cycling that I ever seen. LOL.

 

[Bolder]

Dodgy, sleazy past, and may to this day be on some kind of doping regimen - but a very entertaining racer, and furthermore Valverde does not moralize about "a new clean era", or "zero tolerance", nor feign shock about there being doping in pro cycling. He just keeps his mouth shut. That's why his fans see Valverde more as a 'rascal' than a 'villain'. And he is revered by some younger pros such as Lopez or Pantano, they praise Valverde and wanted to be like him when they were starting out in their cycling careers

Yes. I find it baffling that some "fans" of the sport will wilfully endorse brazen cheats and condemn others simply because of their PR stance. You wouldn't do that if someone stole from you or assaulted you - you'd just think that they were a swine.

Cheering the likes of Vino at worlds, Horner in the Vuelta and Rasmussen at the Tour is difficult for some, like me, to grasp. The most extreme, brazen examples of doping bring the sport into disrepute. Valverde has peaked (relative to the peloton) after hitting 35 years of age and that is simply farcical.

nobody thinks they been stolen from...everyone in the pro ranks knows the score...everyone

edited for common sense below

the above excludes Froome...he's stolen from everyone...

The 120 riders who finished second to Valverde in all his victories might disagree. But, I agree that few in the peloton would stand up and claim that they'd been cheated out of wins by dopers!

It's interesting how different riders are perceived (the "rascal" vs "villain" point above). while Vino, LA and CF are the devil incarnate, guys like Valverde continue to get a pass. If Valverde was on Sky and winning uphill sprints at the age of 38 the Clinic would blow a gasket.

I don't really know what to make of Valverde. My best guess is that he's clearly an exceptionally talented racer who is really in tune with his body. Whatever regime he's on is clearly working. He reminds me a bit of Tom Brady in the NFL (who I'm also convinced is pharmacologically assisted).