Hola Alejandro!

Yeah, Valverde is a great rider. Can climb and sprint, needs a bit more tt skills and he's there. I'm happy that he's been able to follow up his great season last year in kelme so far this year. I'd say he's podium material!

great ride from valverde lets see if he can keep this up till the end of the tour,i think he can win tomorrow if he can keep up with the best he will be the fav in the sprint.

Both Valverde and Mancebo are strong in the hills, but I agree that they haven't demonstrated enough TT power (82nd and 97th respectively in Stage 1 - down 2+ minutes in only 19k) to be menacing GC contenders.

tcklyde said:

Valverde cleared his throat and announced himself today. A superb ride and a powerful sprint! Illes Balears had a wonderful stage. Can they keep it up? With two such class ridres, they've certainly become a threat.

Consider this a Disco/T-Mobile free thread.

I don't think Alejandro won the stage, but Lance pretty much let him get the stage. I don't think he's a threat at all. Even if he has acquired better climbing abilities he is way down in the GC.

ciao

I think Valverde will be a threat for second. He can't beat Lance because of the TT's and TTT. He will be one of the major contenders next year. I can't wait to see next year's TdF. It will be a showdown of Valverde, Cunego, and Popovych hopefully. I just hope it's on OLN next year. If not, I'll go see it 🙂.

mareblu said:

I don't think Alejandro won the stage, but Lance pretty much let him get the stage. I don't think he's a threat at all. Even if he has acquired better climbing abilities he is way down in the GC.

ciao

dont try to take way the merit of valverde´s win.lance didnt let him win valverde was stronger at the sprint.

nonameboy said:

dont try to take way the merit of valverde´s win.lance didnt let him win valverde was stronger at the sprint.

I have to agree with that. I think Lance wanted the win, or else he wouldn't have jumped 500 meters out. He wanted the time bonus, sure, but he wanted the win. Valverde just outsprinted him. Barely, but Lance didn't have the jump. Don't get me wrong, I think Lance can do it again tomorrow, all day long. He's not a sprinter, though. Valverde got him.

Lachlan

Yes, Valverde does have a great sprint.

Cubflyer said:

I have to agree with that. I think Lance wanted the win, or else he wouldn't have jumped 500 meters out. He wanted the time bonus, sure, but he wanted the win. Valverde just outsprinted him. Barely, but Lance didn't have the jump. Don't get me wrong, I think Lance can do it again tomorrow, all day long. He's not a sprinter, though. Valverde got him.

Lachlan

LA actually gave him the perfect lead out!

tcklyde said:

LA actually gave him the perfect lead out!

So it seemed. Lance did accelerate pretty hard there, intending to win. But, Valverde was able to follow and took the win.

Valverde was also looking back before the line to make sure he didn't let Lance come around.

mareblu said:

I don't think Alejandro won the stage, but Lance pretty much let him get the stage. I don't think he's a threat at all. Even if he has acquired better climbing abilities he is way down in the GC.

ciao

Valverde wouldn't have finished when he did if it weren't for LA, and I think LA did more work at the front up the last 10km, but I don't think that LA had any choice about "letting" Valverde win. This is his last tour and he would have wanted the stage win.

artemidorus said:

Valverde wouldn't have finished when he did if it weren't for LA, and I think LA did more work at the front up the last 10km, but I don't think that LA had any choice about "letting" Valverde win. This is his last tour and he would have wanted the stage win.

LA did do more work in the last 10k. But look at the experience of Rasmussen & Valverde. Mancebo has been around a few years but he was draggin his tounge the last 10k and was lucky to be there. I think that played a factor. LA was trying to organize the 3 and get them to work together as best as possible. I think LA was quite content with what he got at the finish.

thebluetrain said:

LA did do more work in the last 10k. But look at the experience of Rasmussen & Valverde. Mancebo has been around a few years but he was draggin his tounge the last 10k and was lucky to be there. I think that played a factor. LA was trying to organize the 3 and get them to work together as best as possible. I think LA was quite content with what he got at the finish.

I agree. But I don't think that he was graciously "letting" Valverde win, as has been suggested.

artemidorus said:

I agree. But I don't think that he was graciously "letting" Valverde win, as has been suggested.

Armstrong is quoted as saying he wanted the win because he is yet win a race this year but Valverde beat him. Armstrong was quite complementary of Valverde and spoke of being impressed and that we are seeing the future.

babylou said:

Armstrong is quoted as saying he wanted the win because he is yet win a race this year but Valverde beat him. Armstrong was quite complementary of Valverde and spoke of being impressed and that we are seeing the future.

Great ride by valverde. Nice to see Basso still close by, I don't think we have seen the end of him yet. Will be very interesting to see how everyone's legs are feeling today. Illeas B looked strong, Disco looked awesome, T-Mobs have a lot of work to do, Lance showed that he is in pretty good form (understatement?). Still a lot of racing to do but I'm afraid the fat lady may be warming up her voice. I hope I'm wrong.

nitrous said:

Great ride by valverde. Nice to see Basso still close by, I don't think we have seen the end of him yet. Will be very interesting to see how everyone's legs are feeling today. Illeas B looked strong, Disco looked awesome, T-Mobs have a lot of work to do, Lance showed that he is in pretty good form (understatement?). Still a lot of racing to do but I'm afraid the fat lady may be warming up her voice. I hope I'm wrong.

An HC a CAT1 and an HC. Everyone will be tired after Courchevel. Going to be a very long day.

mareblu said:

I don't think Alejandro won the stage, but Lance pretty much let him get the stage.

What a stupid thing to say.
"No gifts". - Remember that?
Accelerating near the line, trying to jump the others - doesn't really look like someone who is letting another rider win.

Fantastic ride from a young guy with a huge future.

Remember about 10 - 12 years ago when LA was getting smashed in the ITT's by the likes of Indurain? Valverde has time time & certainly the potential to improve that side of his riding.

I think Lance figured he wasn't going to win the sprint so he just settled for same time and didn't really contest it... not the same as a gift.

I saw Valverde quoted as saying "I grabbed Lance's wheel and hung on for dear life. Then managed to come around him in the end."