Many years ago, in a place that almost seemed like a distant galaxy, José Miguel Echávarri, discoverer of Miguel Induráin and Pedro DelgadoAmong the long list of Spanish cycling’s past victories was the habit of having dinner with the journalists who would cover the race in the early days of the Vuelta.
In 2003, the meeting took place in a restaurant in Gijón. And from there came the idea of cheering to see who hit the top stage winner. The next day – the meeting was no secret – another ancient glory that Echávarri discovered in his own time, Jose Luis Laguia, then the head of the Kelme community asked how the meal went. And he was told that the innovation was to create a club, but that it would be difficult to find winners. “Put the child every day, I’m sure you’ll be right”Laguia replied. “Is it a child?” he was asked. “Yes man, Alejandro Valverde.”
Valverde didn’t win all the stages, he would just miss but Won the 2003 Vuelta’s two main mountain eventsin Envalira and La Pandera. He was only 23 years old, but he had already started to show that pedaling as a professional cyclist would not go unnoticed.
133 wins
“You will have put the Valverde”. It was Laguía who called this journalist from the top of Envalira in Andorra and asked if he had been successful with the baton. The name written on the paper as the winner of the stage that day will be kept as a state secret, and it is possible that almost 20 years later it is not even remembered whether he was right with the cyclist. next Saturday the last great classic of 2022 will turn off the bike at the Giro de LombardíaBeing the most victorious Spanish cyclist of all time, with an impressive record, 133 in total, is a disgrace, but above all he is the most regular in how many races he has participated in, because it’s hard to find in it. To a runner who has always been in the top 10 when deciding to race in a three-week, one-week, or just-day race in the last two decades – and since the invention of the bicycle.
“Do you know what Valverde’s secret is?” Finally someone who knows the reason for the biker’s eternal youth! This led him to become a runner from his debut in 2002, fighting first with the elderly, then with his own age, and now with the young, who could be almost one of his five children. it was Oscar PereiroThree years older than Valverde and winner of the 2006 Tour, discoverer of the secret. “When we all hurt our legs from the effort, Alejandro was still so fresh. They never hurt him. Apart from climbing the Tourmalet on the 2008 Tour, how he suffered that day. We had to push him, encourage him and even push him so he fell from the top. But when the pain went away, In Hautacam, where he already finished the stage, he made a pretty good comeback to get back into the competition for the race”.
A tour of the legs
Valverde’s love for the Tour has been talked about many times. He always thought there was a French tour in those legs. Just as he would be among the contenders for the dead leaves classic on Saturday’s farewell, which scarcely hurt him and always made him a contender for victory at every stage. Maybe if he had separated the Tour from his goals the list of winners would still be more revealing, but at the same time it wouldn’t be Valverde if Valverde hadn’t caused him so much pain in the Tour if he hadn’t always seen it. Had he won a race in Paris in 2015, where he was third on the podium, wearing yellow only once (2008), he could have done it himself and everything among the applicants, but had finished seven of the 14 races. He was in the top 10 of his career.
However, it was coach Echávarri who signed him up from Kelme to make him a benchmark first for Caisse d’Epargne and then for Movistar. instilled in him both the love of the Tour and the great classics.
The now retired Navarrese coach always remembers the phrase Valverde said to himself when he won the first of four Liège-Bastogne-Liège wins in 2006. “José Miguel seems more important than winning this Tour of Murcia.” And I don’t want to disrespect the land that saw the birth of the biker who was called ‘El Unbatido’ in his youth, because no one would dare to take away a victory, Winning in Liège was like opening the doors to the best international cycling race that year. making it a reference how many one-day races he has participated in since then.
It began in the tumultuous years of his reign. Lance Armstrong and ends when international cyclist sons Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel, or in Spanish Juan Ayuso and Carlos Rodriguez, decide that the sun will never set with the kick of their pedals.
38 year old world champion
And if you ask Valverde, who has been interviewed many times with too many anecdotes to fit in all the pages of this paper, what was the happiest day of his life as a cyclist, the answer would take him back. He went to the long Innsbruck sprint with a Romain Bardet who, on September 30, 2018, decided to climb his beard when he became world champion at the age of 38, although he continues to wonder if he started the sprint too early. ‘Invincible’. He raised his left arm and the cry of anger, rage and happiness still echoes in the meadows of the Austrian Alps four years later.
And even when Valverde was training with the Murcia team, it was what kept him active during the controversial 2010 suspension, he goes out to win when he rides a bike And he will continue to do so, and has retired to remember his glory years as a cyclist who has always been hard to beat during his 20-year professional career.
Many years ago, in a place that almost seemed like a distant galaxy, José Miguel Echávarri, discoverer of Miguel Induráin and Pedro DelgadoAmong the long list of Spanish cycling’s past victories was the habit of having dinner with the journalists who would cover the race in the early days of the Vuelta.
In 2003, the meeting took place in a restaurant in Gijón. And from there came the idea of cheering to see who hit the top stage winner. The next day – the meeting was no secret – another ancient glory that Echávarri discovered in his own time, Jose Luis Laguia, then the head of the Kelme community asked how the meal went. And he was told that the innovation was to create a club, but that it would be difficult to find winners. “Put the child every day, I’m sure you’ll be right”Laguia replied. “Is it a child?” he was asked. “Yes man, Alejandro Valverde.”
Valverde didn’t win all the stages, he would just miss but Won the 2003 Vuelta’s two main mountain eventsin Envalira and La Pandera. He was only 23 years old, but he had already started to show that pedaling as a professional cyclist would not go unnoticed.
133 wins
“You will have put the Valverde”. It was Laguía who called this journalist from the top of Envalira in Andorra and asked if he had been successful with the baton. The name written on the paper as the winner of the stage that day will be kept as a state secret, and it is possible that almost 20 years later it is not even remembered whether he was right with the cyclist. next Saturday the last great classic of 2022 will turn off the bike at the Giro de LombardíaBeing the most victorious Spanish cyclist of all time, with an impressive record, 133 in total, is a disgrace, but above all he is the most regular in how many races he has participated in, because it’s hard to find in it. To a runner who has always been in the top 10 when deciding to race in a three-week, one-week, or just-day race in the last two decades – and since the invention of the bicycle.
“Do you know what Valverde’s secret is?” Finally someone who knows the reason for the biker’s eternal youth! This led him to become a runner from his debut in 2002, fighting first with the elderly, then with his own age, and now with the young, who could be almost one of his five children. it was Oscar PereiroThree years older than Valverde and winner of the 2006 Tour, discoverer of the secret. “Alejandro was still so fresh when we all got sore legs from this effort. They never hurt him. Apart from climbing the Tourmalet on the 2008 Tour, how he suffered that day. We had to push, encourage him. Despite that, he fell to the top. But when the pain disappeared, he was already on stage. At Hautacam, where he finished, he made a pretty good comeback to put himself back for the race”.
A tour of the legs
Valverde’s love for the Tour has been talked about many times. He always thought there was a French tour in those legs. Just as he would be among the contenders for the dead leaves classic on Saturday’s farewell, which scarcely hurt him and always made him a contender for victory at every stage. Maybe if he had separated the Tour from his goals the list of winners would still be more revealing, but at the same time it wouldn’t be Valverde if Valverde hadn’t caused him so much pain in the Tour if he hadn’t always seen it. Had he won a race in Paris in 2015, where he was third on the podium, wearing yellow only once (2008), he could have done it himself and everything among the applicants, but had finished seven of the 14 races. He was in the top 10 of his career.
However, it was coach Echávarri who signed him up from Kelme to make him a benchmark first for Caisse d’Epargne and then for Movistar. instilled in him both the love of the Tour and the great classics.
The now retired Navarrese coach always remembers the phrase Valverde said to himself when he won the first of four Liège-Bastogne-Liège wins in 2006. “José Miguel seems more important than winning this Tour of Murcia.” And I don’t want to disrespect the land that saw the birth of the biker who was called ‘El Unbatido’ in his youth, because no one would dare to take away a victory, Winning in Liège was like opening the doors to the best international cycling race that year. making it a reference how many one-day races he has participated in since then.
It began in the tumultuous years of his reign. Lance Armstrong and ends when international cyclist sons Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel, or in Spanish Juan Ayuso and Carlos Rodriguez, decide that the sun will never set with the kick of their pedals.
38 year old world champion
And if you ask Valverde, who has been interviewed too many times to fit all the pages of this paper, what was the happiest day of his life as a cyclist, the answer would take him back. The long Innsbruck sprint is with a Romain Bardet who, on September 30, 2018, became world champion at age 38, decided to climb his beard, though he continues to wonder if he started the sprint too early. Invincible’. He raised his left arm and the cry of anger, rage and happiness still echoes in the meadows of the Austrian Alps four years later.
And even when Valverde was training with the Murcia team, it was what kept him active during the controversial 2010 suspension, he goes out to win when he rides a bike And he will continue to do so, and has retired to remember his glory years as a cyclist who has always been hard to beat during his 20-year professional career.