Spaniard to return to the peloton in January 2012
Quick Step team manager Patrick Lefevere has stated his interest in Alejandro Valverde, wanting to sign the rider when he is eligible to return to racing next year. The Spaniard is currently serving a two year ban for his involvement in Operación Puerto, but is set to return when the ban ends in January 2012.
This week Lefevere confirmed his interest in Belgian star Philippe Gilbert telling Sporza, “Just before the Tour and even during the Tour, I had a discussion with Philippe Gilbert and his manager. He assured me he has not yet signed for BMC.”
It now seems that the high profile Valverde is also on the Belgian manager’s radar. “We would very much like Gilbert to accept our proposal, but if he does not come, we must seek alternatives,” he told Het Nieuwsblad. About Valverde he said, “It’s an option. However, I fear that he will choose Team Movistar and return to the team he was part of before.”
Valverde has spent most of his career on Eusebio Unzué‘s team and is reported to have maintained close ties with the team. He has frequently been seen training with them to keep a high level of fitness in order to support his return to the Pro Team circuit.
Unzué has publicly supported the multiple Classics winner and has been very vocal about him returning to the team, stating that he’d be the leader the team was missing.
Valverde has for long maintained his innocence but his involvement in Operación Puerto was suspected for a while. That was confirmed when the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) matched samples of his blood taken during the Tour de France in 2008 to bags seized in the Madrid raid two years earlier.