For some people, the term retirement does not exist. Alejandro Valverde One of them. A year ago at the Giro de Lombardia he decided to end the professional career that had made him one of the best Spanish riders of all time; The first to become a true classics expert, with four victories in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Even though he could not win, he was at least among the top 10 in the rankings in the races he participated in.
He reached the podium at his second gravel world championship on Sunday. was fourthAt 43 years old, he is ahead of top experts, some professionals and active road stars.
first doubts
A year ago, suspicion surrounded everyone who shared various aspects of Valverde’s career and was always at the top of this sport. Will you be able to take on a new professional challenge?
Movistar, the team he has been with since Telefónica decided to sponsor the longest-standing Spanish team in the peloton in 2012, offered him a new job. I had to perform various functionsfrom mentoring the youngest and attending some races as a technician, to the PR aspect of the three major events on the international calendar, the Giro, the Tour and the Vuelta, in that order of disagreement.
WITH ValverdeThe truth is that little, if not almost nothing, has been seen from him in the 2023 races. In February, he participated in the Jaén Paraíso Interior Classic, which was won by Tadej Pogacar, another monster of this sport, and little else. There he even got behind the wheel of Movistar’s assistant car for a few kilometers and from then on disappeared from the professional competitive fray. He only attended some Telefónica promotional events in Bilbao (start of the Tour) and Barcelona (start of the Vuelta). But on the tour to Spain, yes, although he was wearing a Movistar jersey, it was the advertising firm’s image where he was seen lying on the sofa.
“What is Valverde doing?”
“What are you doing Valverdehe asked those in charge of his team during the Volta conflict in March. He had already skipped the script in races like. Paris-Nice and the Catalan tour. And as if recklessly, the new mission of ‘El Bala’, as it has always been known, came into play: “He deals in gravel.”
HE gravel It is this new breed of sport that has seduced thousands of cycling tourists around the world, especially in the United States. To best describe it, road bikes can’t go where a gravel bike can go, which can roll seamlessly where a road bike goes, similar bikes are superior in speed with tacho wheels although more comfortable, for the same effort, mountain ones can ride on any trail as well.
For this reason Valverde This expertise fascinated him so much that in April Movistar announced the formation of the gravel team, logically headed by the Murcian star. No motivation for the new technical direction and no desire to travel the world unless by bike, Valverde He continued training with his ‘group’, as he called them, around Murcia; They were always the same people who liked to be attacked at the end of practice and were hit by an insensitive driver in June 2022. Valverde was later taken to hospital.
My brother and the electric bike
One of the members of the group is his brother. JuanHe is in charge of the promising Murcian team sponsored by Alejandro. He is also the one riding the electric bike, he was a little tricked. At a specific departure time, Juan receives signal Iskender and starts the engine. The group is in single file, Alejandro at the wheel of his brother. The result is always the same Valverde They were left alone while the others succumbed to their own strength, Juan’s electronic power, and Alejandro’s physical strength.
That’s what keeps him entertained and you can almost tell that’s what he’s striving for. ‘Group’ ValverdeOn the other hand, he sees it every day, unlike the bike tourists who sign up unyielding from Berja (Almería) or La, where it exits with gravel OspreyIn Sabiñánigo (Huesca), he took up road cycling again, as he took honors at Spain’s most popular road cycling event: 8,148 popular fans signed up for the so-called non-competitive event in Aragon and the French Pyrenees in June.
fourth in Italy
Popular cyclists in both Almería and Sabiñánigo showed little interest in Valverde; In fact, they could only meet him at the exit. Valverde He single-handedly won La Indomable and broke Quebrantahuesos’ record. He nearly survived the start to show that no one can eclipse him. He even faced some criticism if such dominance was necessary against runners who do cycling as a hobby.
But it also had to continue to feel professional. That’s why he led the Spanish team into the gravel World Cup in Italy on Sunday. He almost failed to challenge for medals, especially the bronze, in a race won by the Slovenian (another one in his country). Pogacar and Primoz Roglic), Matej Mohoric, winner of Milan-San Remo in 2022. It even came before Wout van AertHe was the big favorite at the start and finished eighth due to the impact of the drop.
For some people, the term retirement does not exist. Alejandro Valverde One of them. A year ago at the Giro de Lombardia he decided to end the professional career that had made him one of the best Spanish riders of all time; The first to become a true classics expert, with four victories in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Even though he could not win, he was at least among the top 10 in the rankings in the races he participated in.
He reached the podium at his second gravel world championship on Sunday. was fourthAt 43 years old, he is ahead of top experts, some professionals and active road stars.
first doubts
A year ago, suspicion surrounded everyone who shared various aspects of Valverde’s career and was always at the top of this sport. Will you be able to take on a new professional challenge?
Movistar, the team he has been with since Telefónica decided to sponsor the longest-standing Spanish team in the peloton in 2012, offered him a new job. I had to perform various functionsfrom mentoring the youngest and attending some races as a technician, to the PR aspect of the three major events on the international calendar, the Giro, the Tour and the Vuelta, in that order of disagreement.
WITH ValverdeThe truth is that little, if not almost nothing, has been seen from him in the 2023 races. In February, he participated in the Jaén Paraíso Interior Classic, which was won by Tadej Pogacar, another monster of this sport, and little else. There he even got behind the wheel of Movistar’s auxiliary car for a few kilometers and from then on disappeared from the professional competitive fray. He only attended some Telefónica promotional events in Bilbao (start of the Tour) and Barcelona (start of the Vuelta). But on the tour to Spain, even though he was wearing a Movistar jersey, it was the advertising firm’s image where he was seen lying on the sofa.
“What is Valverde doing?”
“What are you doing Valverdehe asked those in charge of his team during the Volta conflict in March. He had already skipped the script in races like. Paris-Nice and the Catalan tour. And as if recklessly, the new mission of ‘El Bala’, as it has always been known, came into play: “He deals in gravel.”
HE gravel It is this new breed of sport that has seduced thousands of cycling tourists around the world, especially in the United States. To best describe it, road bikes can’t go where a gravel bike can go, which can roll seamlessly where a road bike goes, similar bikes are superior in speed with tacho wheels although more comfortable, for the same effort, mountain ones can ride on any trail as well.
For this reason Valverde This expertise fascinated him so much that in April Movistar announced the formation of the gravel team, logically headed by the Murcian star. No motivation for the new technical direction and no desire to travel the world unless by bike, Valverde He continued training with his ‘group’, as he called them, around Murcia; They were always the same people who liked to be attacked at the end of practice and were hit by an insensitive driver in June 2022. Valverde was later taken to hospital.
My brother and the electric bike
One of the members of the group is his brother. JuanHe is in charge of the promising Murcian team sponsored by Alejandro. He is also the one riding the electric bike, he was a little tricked. At a specific departure time, Juan receives signal Iskender and starts the engine. The group is in single file, Alejandro behind the wheel of his brother. The result is always the same Valverde They were left alone while the others succumbed to their own strength, Juan’s electronic power, and Alejandro’s physical strength.
That’s what keeps him entertained and you can almost tell what he’s striving for. ‘Group’ ValverdeOn the other hand, he sees it every day, unlike the bike tourists who sign up unyielding from Berja (Almería) or La, where it exits with gravel OspreyIn Sabiñánigo (Huesca), he took up road cycling again, as he took honors at Spain’s most popular road cycling event: 8,148 popular fans signed up for the so-called non-competitive event in Aragon and the French Pyrenees in June.
fourth in Italy
Popular cyclists in both Almería and Sabiñánigo showed little interest in Valverde; In fact, they could only meet him at the exit. Valverde He single-handedly won La Indomable and broke Quebrantahuesos’ record. He nearly survived the start to show that no one can eclipse him. He even faced some criticism if such dominance was necessary against runners who do cycling as a hobby.
But it also had to continue to feel professional. That’s why he led the Spanish team into the gravel World Cup in Italy on Sunday. He almost failed to challenge for medals, especially the bronze, in a race won by the Slovenian (another one in his country). Pogacar and Primoz Roglic), Matej Mohoric, winner of Milan-San Remo in 2022. It even came before Wout van AertHe was the big favorite at the start and finished eighth due to the impact of the drop.