Stage 3 was 194km long and took four hours 36 minutes and 19 seconds. The difference came down to a matter of centimetres and milliseconds. After leg pedalling for hours the race was won thanks to a throw of the arms.
Valverde
Valverde did everything wrong
I wish I didn’t have to write this. Alejandro Valverde has yet to race in 2012 but is already pedalling some bold claims. The outrageous display of denial by at a Movistar team presentation yesterday can’t go unmentioned. He told the press:
“I haven’t done anything wrong. I’ve always respected the law, my conscience is clean”
For the record, remember he was banned by the Italian Olympic authority CONI in 2009 and then tried to appeal this with the Court of Arbitration for Sport and lost. Then both the UCI and WADA successfully got the ban extended worldwide for 2010 and 2011 via the CAS.
Valverde’s comeback postponed to January
Movistar had announced Alejandro Valverde as the star attraction of a press conference in their flagship Madrid store. The banned rider was to unveil the team’s jersey for 2012. From a marketing perspective having a banned athlete as The Face of your team is perhaps a brave move. But the UCI has intervened to say he cannot take part and the event has been cancelled.
There’s a UCI rule about banned riders staying away from the sport in all forms and I quoted it last August after the rider was spotted taking part in gran fondo rides. He was breaking the UCI’s rules then and – as pictured – even wearing Movistar kit and riding the prototype Campagnolo electric gears. But nobody seemed to mind, presumably because he was being discreet instead of fronting a press conference. Now the UCI has swung into action. Good.
Shorts, duel edition
Cyclist versus horse is a traditional event, I even covered the subject back in March. This time Johnny Hoogerland takes on a horse called Unforgettable. It’s in Dutch but the video is self-explanatory. The result goes down to the wire.
Valverde on the comeback
An alert reader has spotted that Alejandro Valverde is building up for his comeback to the pro peloton. The photo above comes from newspaper La Opinión de Granada. The Spaniard has been suspended for his involvement in the blood doping network uncovered by Operation Puerto but is training hard for his return with Movistar next year (note the team issue Pinarello with Campagnolo’s electronic gears and the Nalini clothing).
Not content with training hard, he’s been taking part in organised rides. Perhaps mindful of his suspension in the amateur ride above from July he didn’t have a race number… but started with the others and went on to cross the finish line first.
New sponsor… old ways?
Moi, controversial? Caisse d’Epargne might be withdrawing from pro team sponsorship but the French savings bank has not had its last word. Team manager Eusebio Unzue wanted to sign Ricardo Ricco, on release from Flaminia, but the sponsor blocked the deal. “Unzue wanted me but not the French sponsor” explains Ricco in the Gazzetta dello … Read more
Valverde finally banned… but the others?
It took time but as expected, the Court for Arbitration has ruled against Alejandro Valverde and the Spanish Federation, the RFEC: On 29 August 2007, the UCI requested the RFEC to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Alejandro Valverde on the basis of the evidence gathered within the Operación Puerto proceedings, including the blood bag blood from … Read more
A Year Without Valverde
I wrote a suggestion on here yesterday that should Alejandro Valverde get banned then race results from the past need to be updated instantly to leave things in no doubt: as soon as Valverde’s gone, he’s gone from the record books. The idea has been picked up by French website cyclismag.fr. Here are the potential … Read more
Valverde’s Swan Song
The phrase “swan song” is a reference to an ancient belief that the Swan is completely mute during its lifetime until the moment just before it dies, when it sings one beautiful song. Swans are not actually mute during life – they produce snorts, shrill noises, grunts, and hisses – and they do not sing … Read more
Bingo and new pants for Arvesen
Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano has succeeded where the UCI and the Court for Arbitration Sport have so far failed, namely to block Alejandro Valverde from racing. Whilst many drove up from Spain and Italy, Valverde has stayed put. Spinning in the rigging, there was f&*k all else to do But the best story so far is … Read more