Former Vuelta a España winner returning after long suspension, has been training hard
Following months of speculation, the Movistar team has confirmed that Alejandro Valverde will indeed be one of its riders in 2012, returning from a long suspension to ride with the squad.
The team issued a very brief statement announcing that he and next year’s team jersey will be presented at the flagship store in Madrid’s Gran Via, with the former Vuelta a España winner to don the garment for those present.
Valverde gave strong indications last month that a return was likely to the structure with whom he competed for many years. He first joined it in 2005 when it was sponsored by Illes Balears-Banesto, then remained in the fold when it became the Caisse d’Epargne setup.
The latter sponsor withdrew at the end of last year and Movistar stepped in.
“There have been offers from other teams, that’s true,” Valverde told Diario Siglo XX1 last month. “But at other times, I have said that I must be grateful to my former team, it has been very good to me. I’ve been very happy with them and I think I should be grateful.”
The 31 year old rider has been banned since May 31st of last year due to his part in Operacion Puerto. He has trained with the team on several occasions since, including at its pre-season training camp in Majorca, and is effectively repaying the loyalty it showed when pressure was on him from the UCI, WADA and the media.
Valverde has brought much to the team, though, in terms of results, and so it is unsurprising that it wants to keep him on board. He won the 2009 Vuelta while part of the lineup, as well as the UCI ProTour in 2006 and 2008, Liège-Bastogne-Liège in the same years, two editions of the Critérium de Dauphiné Libéré, plus Flèche Wallonne, the Clasica San Sebastián and the Volta a Catalunya.
He has also picked up numerous stages in multi-day races, including the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España.
Tuesday’s launch will mark the official resumption of his relationship with the team and should see the rider confirm the early races on his programme. He said last month that he wasn’t sure when and where he would race first, but said that he had trained hard to be ready.
Part of that preparation was the decision to take his annual break from the bike in September rather than October, thus having an additional month over his fellow riders to prepare for racing.
“I have trained very well, I’ve done many kilometres…I’ve done about 10,000 kilometres, which is enough to train,” he said then. “The level of effort has certainly not been the same as when you race, but I tried to simulate racing with hard training.
“I know what I notice it [the jump in effort] when I get back, but I hope it’ll be for the shortest time possible.”
It is possible that he could decide to start racing early on in order to give him additional time to sharpen up. The Tour Down Under would seem to be one possibility or, if the team takes part, the Tour de San Luis in Argentina.