VALVERDE

Vino'sGhost

The class is back.


Oh yes

argyllflyer

I do find it amusing the way you celebrate convicted dopers yet are restless in pursuit of others yet to be convicted of anything. As someone only a year or two older yet showing signs of slowing on my own bike, Valverde's ability to get better with age leaves me envious.

shipley

Classiest one of them all.

Love watching him.

Everything from his performances, to his bike position, his kit and his tactics.

He seems to have the longest season of all, and is always fabulous in the early season. Who else, at that age, could come back after a smashed kneecap ?

....and the haters can sod off...... no comparison to the other current ‘Tour ‘ high performers

Vino'sGhost

argyllflyer wrote:

I do find it amusing the way you celebrate convicted dopers yet are restless in pursuit of others yet to be convicted of anything. As someone only a year or two older yet showing signs of slowing on my own bike, Valverde's ability to get better with age leaves me envious.

I enjoy watching valverde because he's class, he's a winner and he looks good. If i didnt enjoy watching dopers I wouldnt watch professional sport.

andyp

Shipley wrote:

....and the haters can sod off...... no comparison to the other current ‘Tour ‘ high performers

That's true. No other active GT winner has been convicted of a doping offence.

Vino'sGhost

andyp wrote:

Shipley wrote:

....and the haters can sod off...... no comparison to the other current ‘Tour ‘ high performers

That's true. No other active GT winner has been convicted of a doping offence.

Well that doesn’t mean they’re clean does it?

Vino'sGhost

Anyway let the haters hate but I like the most versatile gt and classics winner of a generation.

Matthewfalle

andyp wrote:

Shipley wrote:

....and the haters can sod off...... no comparison to the other current ‘Tour ‘ high performers

That's true. No other active GT winner has been convicted of a doping offence.

Yet.

Mad_Malx

Only started watching races properly in the post puerto era, and disliked Valverde with a passion. Vividly recall some tdf stage where he confirmed my prejudice as he wheelsucked a young Pinot up a mountain, to both their disadvantage, then sprinted for glorious 3rd place. Also his refusal to work at the worlds around same time cost JRod a win I would have loved to see.

Last couple of years I have shifted from begrudging acknowledgement of his talent through to admiration - I was gutted when he crashed out in the tdf tt last year after after a superb spring. Has he changed or me?

blazing_saddles

I don't have a problem with folks admiring Valverde.
Watching his last two stage races, his powers are most definitely still fully intact.
Not the slightest sign of waning form. He will once again be a dominant force, come the hilly classics.
I wish I knew his secret.
Kudos.

However, I do take issue with these same folks then moaning that untarnished riders must be on a full programme in order to compete with his ilk.
Given their stance, it really should be of no concern to them.
There is already too much hypocrisy within the sport.

tim000

Mad_Malx wrote:

Only started watching races properly in the post puerto era, and disliked Valverde with a passion. Vividly recall some tdf stage where he confirmed my prejudice as he wheelsucked a young Pinot up a mountain, to both their disadvantage, then sprinted for glorious 3rd place. Also his refusal to work at the worlds around same time cost JRod a win I would have loved to see.

Last couple of years I have shifted from begrudging acknowledgement of his talent through to admiration - I was gutted when he crashed out in the tdf tt last year after after a superb spring. Has he changed or me?

no , he`s still a convicted doper.

Mad_Malx

^yes, and stealing his dog’s blood was beyond redemption, but I’m stupid enough to think that that the ‘proper’ doping is much more difficult to get away with now.

Mad_Malx

Blazing Saddles wrote:

I don't have a problem with folks admiring Valverde.
Watching his last two stage races, his powers are most definitely still fully intact.
Not the slightest sign of waning form. He will once again be a dominant force, come the hilly classics.
I wish I knew his secret.
Kudos.

However, I do take issue with these same folks then moaning that untarnished riders must be on a full programme in order to compete with his ilk.
Given their stance, it really should be of no concern to them.
There is already too much hypocrisy within the sport.

Very much with you on this, Blazing

Dorset_Boy

You have to admire his consistency and powers of recovery. I really thought he'd be a shadow of himself after his Tour crash, but he's as strong as ever, and probably the best all round racer over the last few years.

Vino'sGhost

i remember meeting him at a trainnig camp just as he was starting out and then he was touted as a GT and poss tour winner. but as it turns out he's become so much more.

there cant be many more years at the top sadly

bobmcstuff

Dorset Boy wrote:

You have to admire his consistency and powers of recovery. I really thought he'd be a shadow of himself after his Tour crash, but he's as strong as ever, and probably the best all round racer over the last few years.

Yeah, his recovery this year is pretty remarkable.

Hard not to be a bit suspicious given his past, but he does look great on the bike and is a canny racer.

kingstongraham

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Anyway let the haters hate but I like the most versatile gt and classics winner of a generation.

You don't have any suspicions about him like you do with some other successful riders? Or is it just it doesn't matter because you like him? Genuinely interested.

ShutupJens

Vino'sGhost wrote:

there cant be many more years at the top sadly

If you had said that 5 years ago I'd have definitely agreed with you. In fact I remember he won a tour stage in 2012 and I definitely thought "wow he's still going, fair enough"

yorkshireraw

I've posted this before, but there's a good chance that his 'gap year' in 2011 has actually helped prolong his career.
he rode 48,000km that year - that's a huge block of aerobic work, without any of the stresses of travel, racing, crashes, bad weather (given he lives in Murcia which is pretty good year round) and getting to be with his family for a full year. Of course he would have known he was going to walk straight back into a job with the Caisse d'Epargne (now Movistar) team when his ban was up, which would have helped his motivation and state of mind.
Absolute bandit.

Jez mon

Ah "haters" clearly someone is a teenage girl.

sloppyschleckonds

argyllflyer wrote:

As someone only a year or two older yet showing signs of slowing on my own bike, Valverde's ability to get better with age leaves me envious.

Get a better coach, or doctor

philbar72

I've grown to have a grudging respect for him, lets face it no one else has his all round talents. his ability to ride for a podium and play the safe game got my goat at one point, but nowadays its pretty clear, if he can't win he will go to maximise his chances of getting the best position he can...

timoid.

The dude is money. Who knows if he's on the gear, but Puerto was TWELVE years ago.

Have to give him the benefit of the doubt.

RichN95.

Back in the early to mid 2000s loads of riders where doping. If drugs didn't exist some, like Valverde, would still be winning races, possibly even more than they did, while some, like Rasmussen, would have been riding sportives.

joelsim

He’s one of the all-time greats.

And his racecraft is bettered by no one.

Vino'sGhost

KingstonGraham wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Anyway let the haters hate but I like the most versatile gt and classics winner of a generation.

You don't have any suspicions about him like you do with some other successful riders? Or is it just it doesn't matter because you like him? Genuinely interested.

I'm less intersted in if theyve cheated or not depending on the amount of noise announcing someone is innocent. Especially in the face of pretty damming circumstances.

EG Valverde had a bag of blood = Bad but not too bothered more dissapointed.

Wiggins TUE and jiffy bags +loads of hes innocent because he hasnt been found guilty = BAD but would like him to be busted mostly on the stregth of his supporters screams of innocence. And lets face it, the case against him was dropped because the "lost laptop and poor record keeping" meant that UKAD was frustrated. Obviously it helped that his doctor was too poorly on the day of his hearing to give evidence.

More importantly the way Valverde races is class and very enjoyable to watch.

tim000

Vino'sGhost wrote:

KingstonGraham wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Anyway let the haters hate but I like the most versatile gt and classics winner of a generation.

You don't have any suspicions about him like you do with some other successful riders? Or is it just it doesn't matter because you like him? Genuinely interested.

I'm less intersted in if theyve cheated or not depending on the amount of noise announcing someone is innocent. Especially in the face of pretty damming circumstances.

EG Valverde had a bag of blood = Bad but not too bothered more dissapointed.

Wiggins TUE and jiffy bags +loads of hes innocent because he hasnt been found guilty = BAD but would like him to be busted mostly on the stregth of his supporters screams of innocence. And lets face it, the case against him was dropped because the "lost laptop and poor record keeping" meant that UKAD was frustrated. Obviously it helped that his doctor was too poorly on the day of his hearing to give evidence.

More importantly the way Valverde races is class and very enjoyable to watch.

you think having a TUE for medication is worse than blood doping :shock: :shock: :shock:

yorkshireraw

RichN95 wrote:

Back in the early to mid 2000s loads of riders where doping. If drugs didn't exist some, like Valverde, would still be winning races, possibly even more than they did, while some, like Rasmussen, would have been riding sportives.

Rasmussen would fit in nicely on the Italian Grand Fondo scene. Mucho dopage.

Vino'sGhost

tim000 wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

KingstonGraham wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Anyway let the haters hate but I like the most versatile gt and classics winner of a generation.

You don't have any suspicions about him like you do with some other successful riders? Or is it just it doesn't matter because you like him? Genuinely interested.

I'm less intersted in if theyve cheated or not depending on the amount of noise announcing someone is innocent. Especially in the face of pretty damming circumstances.

EG Valverde had a bag of blood = Bad but not too bothered more dissapointed.

Wiggins TUE and jiffy bags +loads of hes innocent because he hasnt been found guilty = BAD but would like him to be busted mostly on the stregth of his supporters screams of innocence. And lets face it, the case against him was dropped because the "lost laptop and poor record keeping" meant that UKAD was frustrated. Obviously it helped that his doctor was too poorly on the day of his hearing to give evidence.

More importantly the way Valverde races is class and very enjoyable to watch.

you think having a TUE for medication is worse than blood doping :shock: :shock: :shock:

I think having dodgy TUEs is just as bad yes. In part because it flicks two fingers.

kingstongraham

If it turned out Valverde was still doping, would it affect your opinion of him?

tim000

KingstonGraham wrote:

If it turned out Valverde was still doping, would it affect your opinion of him?

try , If it turned out Valverde was riding for sky would it affect your opinion of him?