I think the main point is that Valverde's accomplishments are more comparable to Gilbert than guys like Boonen, Cancellara, Contador, Nibali, or Froome.
The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to
In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.
Thanks!
DanielSong39 said:I think the main point is that Valverde's accomplishments are more comparable to Gilbert than guys like Boonen, Cancellara, Contador, Nibali, or Froome.
El Pistolero said:DanielSong39 said:I think the main point is that Valverde's accomplishments are more comparable to Gilbert than guys like Boonen, Cancellara, Contador, Nibali, or Froome.
This.
Yeah it's nonsense to say Valverde isn't clearly better than Gilbert, but Gilbert's classics results are definitely comparable to Piti's, and Gilbert isn't even almost the best one day racer of his generation. Moreover Valverde's gt record also isn't that impressive (only looking at wins) that I would put him above Contador, Cance and Boonen.Valv.Piti said:El Pistolero said:DanielSong39 said:I think the main point is that Valverde's accomplishments are more comparable to Gilbert than guys like Boonen, Cancellara, Contador, Nibali, or Froome.
This.
Are you sure your very big dislike for Valverde doesn't cloud your judgment?
DanielSong39 said:I think the main point is that Valverde's accomplishments are more comparable to Gilbert than guys like Boonen, Cancellara, Contador, Nibali, or Froome.
El Pistolero said:Flamin said:Red Rick said:Yeah, so. Purito has won a lot more on similar finishes.Flamin said:Red Rick said:Gilbert has been the best in the world in his own small niche, which is 1-2 minute uphill sprints or thereabouts. Most efforts in hilly classics are longer, but Phil could do some longer efforts at his peak. Valverde on the other hand, was never best in the world in any niche, but more like top 5 in any effort ranging from 2 minutes uphill to 10 minutes uphill (whilst also competing in all longer climbing efforts), and they similar speed in a flat sprint. Therefor, there can't be a WC parcours that suits Valverde as much as Valkenburg did for Gilbert, but Valverde can challenge more parcourses and races.
You know the Mur of Huy?
So? That's Valverde's Cauberg and he would become WC 9 times out of 10 on that parcours.
The WC didn't finish on the Cauberg, but 2km after it. Valverde has never won Flèche with a large gap and depending on the direction of the wind he would be caught.
Besides, Froome and Rodriguez kicked Valverde's butt on the Mur de Huy in the Tour de France 2015. The best riders in the world simply don't peak for a race like Flèche.
Slight edge to Valverde for winning actually less and less important races...Mr.White said:As for comparing with Gilbert, they're close with slight edge to Valverde, but only in one-day races.
Happened to see yesterday's race?Flamin said:Even IF Valverde would get caught, he can easily still win the sprint.
We had a big discussion about Valverde vs. Nibali and I'm still not sure who of the two I'd rate higher (Valverde surely has the better palmares but I think Nibali is the guy who will be remembered more in the future because of the higher number of gt wins). All the other ones are definitely behind Valverde. Evans had some great victories but he would need more wins in one day races and probably also more gt wins. Vino for example has won a few more one day races, but still clearly less than Valverde and since he also "only" won the vuelta and not the tdf like Evans he is also clearly behind Piti. And the rest is not even close to Valverde. Purito's case would be interesting though if he would have won the giro/vuelta double 2012 and the WC 2013, 3 races he definitely could have won if he had been a little bit more lucky.toolittle said:I think, Valverde vs Boonen/Cancellara/Contador comparsion discussion are enough.
Boonen/Cancellara/Contador got best palmares in their special area.
Let Valverde compare with all rounders who could do well in GT, Classics.
Cadel Evans -
Won less compared with Valverde.
But he got WC and TDF win. These are biggest win that Valverde missed.
He focused in TDF during his career. Keep beaten Finally get big wins after bio passport implmentation.
He is a clean rider relatively.
1 x TDF; 1 x WC ; 2 x Tour de Romandie ; 1 x Tirreno–Adriatico ; 1 x La Flèche Wallonne
Vincenzo Nibali
1 x TDF ; 1 x Giro ; 2 x Veulta ; 1 x Giro di Lombardia ; 1 x Tirreno–Adriatico
He could do well in classics. But his main targets are GTs.
Alexander Vinokourov
1 x Olympic RR ; 1 x Vuelta ; 2 x LBL ; Amstel Gold Race ; 1 x Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
Paris–Nice ; 1 x Tour de Suisse
Joaquim Rodríguez
Similar to Valverde. It is clear than Valverde has better result.
Damiano Cunego
1 x Giro ; 3 x Giro di Lombardia ; 1 x Amstel Gold Race
Danilo Di Luca
1 x Giro ; 1 x Giro di Lombardia ; 1 x LBL ; 1 x Amstel Gold Race ; 1 x La Flèche Wallonne
DFA123 said:A better comparison is between Gilbert and Contador.
Both are riders who have just one real speciality (One day / GTs), with pretty limited results in the other type of races. Both were only really at their peak for about 2-3 years - a period in which they completely dominated their main events. Since then, both have still picked up one or two decent results each season, but have failed to really compete with the best in the most prestigious race(s) they focus on.
I guess whether you rate one over the other depends on how you value one day races relative to GTs. Personally I'd rate Gilbert slightly above Contador, because I think it's harder for the strongest rider to win a one day race than it is for the strongest rider to win a GT.
Totally agree, you can't be considered the best of your generation if you are only good at one thing. What's more as you say Alberto made the most of the week opposition in the post Armstrong-Ulrich-Rasmussen era when most of the best no longer had the level due to clinic reasons. Once Froome and Quintana emerged Alberto's dominance stopped and his true level was uncovered. Valverde on the other hand fought against the best in the mountains of grand tours during the armstong era regularly winning stages. He won his grand tour in the contador era and is still strong in the froome era. On top of this he has been the best ardennes rider for the past decade beating the likes of Rebellin, Gilbert... Let's not forget gilbert wins came when Valverde was absent, Valverde has always beaten the best hence why he is the best of the four and by Far.DFA123 said:A better comparison is between Gilbert and Contador.
Both are riders who have just one real speciality (One day / GTs), with pretty limited results in the other type of races. Both were only really at their peak for about 2-3 years - a period in which they completely dominated their main events. Since then, both have still picked up one or two decent results each season, but have failed to really compete with the best in the most prestigious race(s) they focus on.
I guess whether you rate one over the other depends on how you value one day races relative to GTs. Personally I'd rate Gilbert slightly above Contador, because I think it's harder for the strongest rider to win a one day race than it is for the strongest rider to win a GT.
DFA123 said:A better comparison is between Gilbert and Contador.
Both are riders who have just one real speciality (One day / GTs), with pretty limited results in the other type of races. Both were only really at their peak for about 2-3 years - a period in which they completely dominated their main events. Since then, both have still picked up one or two decent results each season, but have failed to really compete with the best in the most prestigious race(s) they focus on.
I guess whether you rate one over the other depends on how you value one day races relative to GTs. Personally I'd rate Gilbert slightly above Contador, because I think it's harder for the strongest rider to win a one day race than it is for the strongest rider to win a GT.
Jagartrott said:Slight edge to Valverde for winning actually less and less important races...Mr.White said:As for comparing with Gilbert, they're close with slight edge to Valverde, but only in one-day races.
Erm...
Happened to see yesterday's race?Flamin said:Even IF Valverde would get caught, he can easily still win the sprint.
A hypothetical WC win for Valverde doesn't actually count - sorry.
No, you are wrong. What you call talent in an specific area its whats its known as specialization. Being capable of contend in every kind of terrain is talent.Red Rick said:He's got talent in more area's. In specific area's he's less talented than the other 3. That's the most objective conclusion I can make. I wouldn't call that 'way **** superior to anyone else in the last decade' per se.
That doesn't make sense. They all have a talent in a specific area that the others don't. At their best they were each the best in the world at one type of skill. Contador was the best high mountain climber, Cancellara the best time trialler, Boonen the best sprinter/cobbled rider and Valverde the best on shorter punchy climbs.Red Rick said:He's got talent in more area's. In specific area's he's less talented than the other 3. That's the most objective conclusion I can make. I wouldn't call that 'way **** superior to anyone else in the last decade' per se.
Fernandez said:No, you are wrong. What you call talent in an specific area its whats its known as specialization. Being capable of contend in every kind of terrain is talent.Red Rick said:He's got talent in more area's. In specific area's he's less talented than the other 3. That's the most objective conclusion I can make. I wouldn't call that 'way **** superior to anyone else in the last decade' per se.
Puffff, forget it, this is like talking with children.Red Rick said:Fernandez said:No, you are wrong. What you call talent in an specific area its whats its known as specialization. Being capable of contend in every kind of terrain is talent.Red Rick said:He's got talent in more area's. In specific area's he's less talented than the other 3. That's the most objective conclusion I can make. I wouldn't call that 'way **** superior to anyone else in the last decade' per se.
Apparently, each and every decathlon athlete is more talented than Usain Bolt. See what I did there?
It's easy for one of the top 3 riders in the world to win a GT each season these days. All they have to do is avoid the 1 or 2 riders stronger than them in peak form, avoid crashing and make sure they don't carelessly lose time on flat stages. Then they should win. Contador has basically padded out his palmares by beating second rate or tired rivals at the Giro and Vuelta in recent years.El Pistolero said:Contador has won 9 Grand Tours, what on earth are you talking about? (Let's keep doping out of this discussion as we all know how Valverde achieved his pre-ban wins).
Contador won Grand Tour(s) in 2007 (Tour), 2008 (Giro, Vuelta), 2009 (Tour), 2010 (Tour), 2011 (Giro), 2012 (Vuelta), 2014 (Vuelta) and 2015 (Giro). That's 8 seasons where he won a Grand Tour. Any Grand Tour is bigger than the 5 Monuments. Only the World Championships and Olympics can compete with the "lesser" GTs in prestige.
Contador also won Paris-Nice (2007, 2010), Vuelta al Pais Vasco (2008, 2009, 2014, 2016), Volta a Catalunya (2011) and Tirreno-Adriatico (2014). I consider these races to be more prestigious than the likes of La Flèche Wallonne and Clasica San Sebastian.
Ridiculous isn't it? Valverde is the best in the world at short, punchy climbs. A better analogy would be if a great middle distance runner like David Rudisha was also mixing it with the best in the marathon, and beating 400m runners in sprints.Fernandez said:Puffff, forget it, this is like talking with children.Red Rick said:Fernandez said:No, you are wrong. What you call talent in an specific area its whats its known as specialization. Being capable of contend in every kind of terrain is talent.Red Rick said:He's got talent in more area's. In specific area's he's less talented than the other 3. That's the most objective conclusion I can make. I wouldn't call that 'way **** superior to anyone else in the last decade' per se.
Apparently, each and every decathlon athlete is more talented than Usain Bolt. See what I did there?