Valverde's form??

jerry3571

Just a small thing but has Valverde been on pretty good form since the Tour de France? Not sure he was on top form at the Tour but it's now over 3 months of top racing he's been doing and he's still aiming for a good ride mid month at the Tour of Beijing. Usually a rider hits form over 3 weeks so this run is pretty unbelievable (it's that word "unbelievable" again )
Is this to make sure Quintana is the number two at Moviestar and Valverde still the Boss? :twisted: :twisted:

joelsim

He's been on form all season.

Anonymous

Everything about Valverde's form is unbelievable. He's been on form since before the hilly classics. He's dirty.

joelsim

sjmclean wrote:

Everything about Valverde's form is unbelievable. He's been on form since before the hilly classics. He's dirty.

Tsk, he is a beacon of honesty, trustworthiness and general nice bloke to have around. I tell you.

rick_chasey

Being a good sprinter can hide how good or bad your form really is, so I wouldn't read all that much into it.

RichN95.

The idea of big ups and downs in form is a bit old hat these days. There's plenty of riders who are competitive for long periods. They just don't let their condition drop too much and rest properly.
And as for Valverde he did have a two month break from racing in the middle of the season.

Yellow Peril

He plays others like a fiddle, superb.

FJS

So remind me again for how long each year Lance used to be in peak form?

frenchfighter

Valverde is consistently very very good and it is the same every year. Whatever you say about him he has is super talented, versatile and knows how to hold his form better than any other rider. You need to go back decades to find similar riders.

salsiccia1

RichN95 wrote:

The idea of big ups and downs in form is a bit old hat these days. There's plenty of riders who are competitive for long periods. They just don't let their condition drop too much and rest properly.
And as for Valverde he did have a two month break from racing in the middle of the season.

He's always been a year round rider. I admire that, if not his style.

smithy21

I forget. What is the forum rule on how long you are allowed to have good form for?

Surely Cadel's 2011, Wiggins 2012 and Froome's 2013 have put all that nonsense to bed haven't they?

blazing_saddles

smithy21 wrote:

I forget. What is the forum rule on how long you are allowed to have good form for?

Surely Cadel's 2011, Wiggins 2012 and Froome's 2013 have put all that nonsense to bed haven't they?

These are all very bad examples to compare with Valverde's season long form.
He was winning races such as the Ruta del Sol in February and is still going great in October, after riding back-to-back GTs.
Those three were all taking it easy before the end of August.

A better comparison would be Phil Gilbert's 2011, eight month peak.

smithy21

Wow the Ruta de Sol. Because the big hitters bring their A game to that. :roll:

blazing_saddles

smithy21 wrote:

Wow the Ruta de Sol. Because the big hitters bring their A game to that. :roll:

I'm neutral on this subject.
I gave you a better example and you chose to ignore it, in order to make another sarcastic comment.
Since you have, you've made no point at all, given the same applies to the Tour of Oman or the Volta Algarve.

ozzzyosborn206

i wonder if he prioritised a bit more if he would have found himself on the top step of the worlds podium by now?

ocdupalais

ozzzyosborn206 wrote:

i wonder if he prioritised a bit more if he would have found himself on the top step of the worlds podium by now?

It's the Catholic Guilt Thing in full flow for yet another Spanish doper. He knows not what he do: winning or losing is neither here nor there - putting himself on the rack in every race and looking thoroughly broken afterwards is much more important. And "doing it for the fans"...

Yellow Peril

I've really enjoyed watching him all season. I love the fact that he is a contender in one dayers and stage races alike. You don't see much of that these days.

phreak

Kinda the nearly man of his generation isn't he? Been on the podium five times in GCs, five times in classics and 6 times in the worlds. Considering he has a reputation for wheel sucking and winning despite doing very little work, he's missed out on victory far more than he's come out on top.

curium

Not much to add other than I huugely respect his ability but realise he's not everybody's cup of tea.

deejay

FJS wrote:

So remind me again for how long each year Lance used to be in peak form?

I'm interested in this question but unable to answer it.
Now if the question was how long did lance join a European race each year then a clear answer would be 6 or 7 weeks and all he had to do then was to wave his "Magic Wand" to win.

sjmclean wrote:

Everything about Valverde's form is unbelievable. He's been on form since before the hilly classics. He's dirty.

It's amazing how these proven doped riders still have so much in their system that a Passport can no longer show any discrepancies.

Next :- I agree with Saddles point of view.

type:epyt

Valverde wins races rather than beats competitors ... That (to my mind) is the difference. Seems like a good idea to me.

ginsterdrz

"Convicted dope cheats such as sprinter Justin Gatlin could still be benefiting from having taken banned substances long after their bans have expired."

Kristian Gundersen, Professor of Physiology at the University of Oslo, told BBC Sport: "I think it is likely that effects could be lifelong or at least lasting decades in humans.

"Our data indicates the exclusion time of two years is far too short. Even four years is too short."

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/29510575

frenchfighter

Contador pulls out of Tour of Beijing as he can hardly peddle due to the bang to the knee in Lombardia. I wonder if Valverde will go now given he has sewn up the WT lead.

Anonymous

Valverde has now stated he's not going as he's just had a baby plus he has the WT rankings in the bag.

Saw it on Twitter via RaceRadio or innerring I think yesterday

Paul 8v

That's fair enough, I can't imagine it's too great for the riders anyway. Breathe in loads of pollution whilst being watched by two people and a cat or go and see your newborn, it's not a tricky one!

type:epyt

frenchfighter wrote:

Contador pulls out of Tour of Beijing as he can hardly peddle due to the bang to the knee in Lombardia. I wonder if Valverde will go now given he has sewn up the WT lead.

So basically Bertie is so scared of having to face his rivals over the 3 GT's he's resorting to selling stuff on the side to prove to Uncle Oleg he doesn't need his million bucks. Either that or it's a simple typo.