I seriously doubt Valverde is racing clean. Anyone think the guys bunched around him are clean? If one accepts that he's probably dirty, and that he's been a top talent since his youth racing days where he crushed everyone, what does that say about the ~20 guys finishing within striking distance? Clean?
Here are the guys who finished within a minute after 253km and 10 climbs:
1. Alejandro VALVERDE BELMONTE, MOVISTAR TEAM, in 6:14:20
2. Julian ALAPHILIPPE, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :00
3. Joaquin RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, TEAM KATUSHA, at :00
4. Rui Alberto FARIA DA COSTA, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at :00
5. Roman KREUZIGER, TINKOFF – SAXO, at :00
6. Romain BARDET, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :00
7. Sergio Luis HENAO MONTOYA, TEAM SKY, at :00
8. Domenico POZZOVIVO, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :00
9. Jakob FUGLSANG, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
10. Daniel MORENO FERNANDEZ, TEAM KATUSHA, at :00
11. Louis MEINTJES, MTN – QHUBEKA, at :10
12. Lars Petter NORDHAUG, TEAM SKY, at :10
13. Vincenzo NIBALI, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :24
14. Pieter WEENING, ORICA GreenEDGE, at :24
15. Giampaolo CARUSO, TEAM KATUSHA, at :24
16. Enrico GASPAROTTO, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :24
17. Julien SIMON, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at :32
18. Robert KISERLOVSKI, TINKOFF – SAXO, at :44
19. Vasil KIRYIENKA, TEAM SKY, at :52
20. Tony GALLOPIN, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :58
21. Michal KWIATKOWSKI, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :58
If Valverde is currently doping, does anyone think it's reasonable to finish within a minute of him on this course, in these conditions, raced the way this one was?
I don't think it's likely at all. Possible? I think on a good day a top talent could maybe have finished with this group clean. Maybe.
Other thoughts?