It’s almost over. 20 years after he started his first ever Vuelta a España and now well into his third decade as a professional rider, Alejandro Valverde will roll down the start ramp on Friday evening in his last Grand Tour.
There is a certain sense of closure, too, that the Vuelta will start in the Netherlands, as it was the starting point for the same race where the Movistar leader took his one and (to date) only Grand Tour victory. Add in a further six podium finishes (the most recent in 2019 and the earliest in 2003), as well as 12 stage wins, and if it’s fair to say that if the Vuelta has all but defined Valverde as a stage racer, at times he has become emblematic of the Vuelta, too.
Ever the realist, Valverde ruled out one last throw of the dice at the overall, however, in his last ever Grand Tour, saying a good result for him would consist of “avoiding crashes and staying healthy and helping the team, while taking a stage win would be great, too.”
He also had words of motivation for his teammate Enric Mas, last year’s Vuelta runner-up who is back in the race. However, after becoming mentally ‘blocked’ by repeated issues with descending following crashes, Mas was notably cautious in his segment of the Movistar pre-race press conference about repeating his GC bid.
“We’ve talked a lot, but without going into too much detail and opening up the wound even further. I told him that he’s got the form and the class and you don’t lose that from one day to the next,” Valverde said.
“There are difficult moments in life and sport, but the same has happened to me and you get through it. From what I can see, he’s happier, more confident, and in any case, the Vuelta is a very different race to the Tour.”
Valverde contradicted his team manager Eusebio Unzué, too, who had told a Spanish newspaper after the Tour that Mas had not been mature enough as a leader. “Maybe the pressure got to him a bit as it was his first time as sole leader in a Grand Tour,” Valverde argued, “but we’re all human at the end and I think he’s ready for that challenge.”
It’s no surprise that the Vuelta is the Grand Tour that Valverde likes the most and his main goal in his final three-week race is to enjoy it.
So, with that in mind, he is determined that distractions such as Movistar’s ongoing battle to amass enough UCI points to remain in the WorldTour should not affect his racing or the team’s overall strategic approach in the Vuelta, either.
“The points system [that determines relegation -…
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