Official Valverde thread.

[Irondan]

Re:

It's not even funny anymore.

Are you kidding? It's hilarious! :lol:

It couldn't be any more funny. Valverde winning every race he enters including almost all the classics and monuments is so ridiculous you have to laugh, or you're stuck being angry and that's no way to live.

 

[Rollthedice]

If he is clean since 2006, 2011 or whenever doping vanished from cycling, imagine how many wins he would have if he would dope!

 

[Irondan]

Re:

If he is clean since 2006, 2011 or whenever doping vanished from cycling, imagine how many wins he would have if he would dope!

91? lol

 

[alspacka]

Dan Martin's eagerly watching his phone awaiting his retroactive victories.

 

[thehog]

Re:

It's not even funny anymore.

To fair the rest of the peloton let him win this race. Their tactics were terrible. Dan Martin also needs a class in not going too soon.

 

[ad9898]

He's not even pretending it's hard anymore lol...dope or not, it's bloody impressive

 

[Irondan]

During the post race interview Valverde said that he "had a lot more left in the end", meaning he didn't even have to go very deep at all to beat Martin and the rest of the scrubs that wasted their Sunday afternoon chasing unicorns..

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

During the post race interview Valverde said that he "had a lot more left in the end", meaning he didn't even have to go very deep at all to beat Martin and the rest of the scrubs that wasted their Sunday afternoon chasing unicorns..

Sure, he was taking a nap for 257 km, woke up in the last km and could've go on and on and on. But of course, the others just kept his bed warm throughout the race.

 

[BullsFan22]

Boonen must be thinking "I am the same age as this dude, why can't I still race like this?!?"

 

[Cookster15]

I wonder what Dan Martin is thinking? I reckon he was just ripped off a monument win. In 2016 Valverde was sublime in 2017 it is definitely rediculous.

 

[frisenfruitig]

Re: Re:

It's not even funny anymore.

To fair the rest of the peloton let him win this race. Their tactics were terrible. Dan Martin also needs a class in not going too soon.

I think going early was the right choice in this instance. Waiting until Valverde shifts into fifth gear in the final ~500m isn't an option either is it? Trying to surprise him there was the only option imo.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

I wonder what Dan Martin is thinking? I reckon he was just ripped off a monument win. In 2016 Valverde was sublime in 2017 it is definitely rediculous.

Any evidence to suggest Martin is riding any cleaner than Valverde; apart from the fact he is 2nd all the time instead of first. This is the same Martin, after all, who did to everyone else on the last climb what Valverde did to him.

 

[Inquitus]

Re: Re:

I wonder what Dan Martin is thinking? I reckon he was just ripped off a monument win. In 2016 Valverde was sublime in 2017 it is definitely rediculous.

Any evidence to suggest Martin is riding any cleaner than Valverde; apart from the fact he is 2nd all the time instead of first. This is the same Martin, after all, who did to everyone else on the last climb what Valverde did to him.

Well he hasn't previously had a doping ban like Valverde, and Valverde is beating him for fun while whistling dixie......

 

[BYOP88]

Re:

I wonder what Dan Martin is thinking? I reckon he was just ripped off a monument win. In 2016 Valverde was sublime in 2017 it is definitely rediculous.

Well Martin knows the score. Either cycling isn't clean like he's said in the past(After all he was part of the Garmin , everyone stopped in 2006 PR brigade)and he needs to get himself a better program.

 

[Benotti69]

Valverde sure is motoring.

Dan Martin clean? Not a hope!

 

[Hugh Januss]

Ha ha, some of you guys are really funny. A convicted doper finishes 152 places ahead of another convicted doper and some of you actually think that the guy who only finishes 151 places ahead of a convicted doper has been proven clean because he couldn't beat the one other convicted doper?

 

[Netserk]

Re:

Ha ha, some of you guys are really funny. A convicted doper finishes 152 places ahead of another convicted doper and some of you actually think that the guy who only finishes 151 places ahead of a convicted doper has been proven clean because he couldn't beat the one other convicted doper?

Sure, he's more or less certainly also a doper, but I do think it's fair to say that he is less obvious than Valverde.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

I wonder what Dan Martin is thinking? I reckon he was just ripped off a monument win. In 2016 Valverde was sublime in 2017 it is definitely rediculous.

Well Martin knows the score. Either cycling isn't clean like he's said in the past(After all he was part of the Garmin , everyone stopped in 2006 PR brigade)and he needs to get himself a better program.

Or maybe 2nd place is just his ceiling. He's at a team with the likes of Gilbert and Alaphilippe. I think it's safe to say he'd be getting the best program if he wanted one. Perhaps, you know, that even between riders who may be doping, there are other factors which go into deciding the win.

 

[Ramon Koran]

Re:

Ha ha, some of you guys are really funny. A convicted doper finishes 152 places ahead of another convicted doper and some of you actually think that the guy who only finishes 151 places ahead of a convicted doper has been proven clean because he couldn't beat the one other convicted doper?

What sort of argument is that, I assume your referring to Simon Yates who obviously is no where near his best form by your logic everyone who finished the race is a doper because they finished ahead of him.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Re: Re:

Ha ha, some of you guys are really funny. A convicted doper finishes 152 places ahead of another convicted doper and some of you actually think that the guy who only finishes 151 places ahead of a convicted doper has been proven clean because he couldn't beat the one other convicted doper?

What sort of argument is that, I assume your referring to Simon Yates who obviously is no where near his best form by your logic everyone who finished the race is a doper because they finished ahead of him.

Oh, so you do get it then. Yes they are, some better than others.

 

[SeriousSam]

I'm amazed by the number of people (at cn, but especially elsewhere) who choose to believe that a leading explanation of Valverde dominating is the "long run" effects of doping a long time ago.

As far as I can tell, the only evidence these effects are a real thing that exists comes from the lab, using steroids on rats. Quite a bit of extrapolation to go from there to humans, oxygen peds, and much longer time gaps (rats don't live that long!)

But I suppose if you are committed to the narrative that the sport became clean with Sky's emergence yet do not want to hail Valverde as a clean champion of the clean era, that's what you have to believe

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

During the post race interview Valverde said that he "had a lot more left in the end", meaning he didn't even have to go very deep at all to beat Martin and the rest of the scrubs that wasted their Sunday afternoon chasing unicorns..

Well he had like 50 teammates in the finale!!

 

[Escarabajo]

Serious Sam, I am more inclined to think that the new class of PEDS being used today help him perform a lot better in comparison with other riders. As opposed to before. Before he had a smaller margin.

And you have to admit that after riders being warned or banned the majority come back weaker. So coming back stronger today you have to admit that there has to be a high level of talent.

 

[The Hitch]

Re: Re:

I wonder what Dan Martin is thinking? I reckon he was just ripped off a monument win. In 2016 Valverde was sublime in 2017 it is definitely rediculous.

Any evidence to suggest Martin is riding any cleaner than Valverde; apart from the fact he is 2nd all the time instead of first. This is the same Martin, after all, who did to everyone else on the last climb what Valverde did to him.

Well he hasn't previously had a doping ban like Valverde, and Valverde is beating him for fun while whistling dixie......

So when Dan Martin beat Valverde in 2013 or 2014 or some such, was he doping then? Or was Valverde clean then?

Obviously Valverde doped in the past. But if we are pointing at him doping in the NOW, then that implicates his competitors as well. If its easy for one guy to get away with it, others can to. The lazy narrative of the one bad guy cheating but everyone (especially one's favourite riders) doing it for the moral good of sport, is a unrealistic one.

 

[Benotti69]

Re:

I'm amazed by the number of people (at cn, but especially elsewhere) who choose to believe that a leading explanation of Valverde dominating is the "long run" effects of doping a long time ago.

As far as I can tell, the only evidence these effects are a real thing that exists comes from the lab, using steroids on rats. Quite a bit of extrapolation to go from there to humans, oxygen peds, and much longer time gaps (rats don't live that long!)

But I suppose if you are committed to the narrative that the sport became clean with Sky's emergence yet do not want to hail Valverde as a clean champion of the clean era, that's what you have to believe

The sport is a cesspit.

The testing a joke.

The UCI clowns.

To think that teams would hire clean riders to race against doped ones is taking the pi$$!