The fan’s eye had become so accustomed to his presence that it sounds strange to announce what will happen tomorrow in Italy, at the fifth monument, Il Lombardía: Alejandro Valverde is retiring from cycling. On Sunday he will be a 42-year-old ex, a bicycle retiree who has squeezed the elixir of eternal youth to unsuspected limits. Twenty seasons at full capacity to build an unrivaled track record in Spain and with little comparison in the world (133 victories, one World Cup, one Vuelta, four Lièges, five Flechas Wallonne, two San Sebastián Classics, among many others). A rider equipped as standard for this sport who also had a stain, sanctioned for doping in 2010. Valverde is leaving and a future appears on his horizon as a link between the Movistar management with the cyclists and brand ambassador. From Italy he spoke with ABC. -Tomorrow, at Il Lombardía, is the last of the last. The career that makes him an excyclist. How does he feel? I am, above all, concentrated. Total concentration because I feel very good, in good shape, and I want to do well on Saturday. And from there, depending on what happens, say that’s it, this is over and think about my next life outside of cycling. At the moment, I feel happy, at ease and satisfied with how my end of the season is going. -How have you lived this last year? Have you had doubts, tension or have you enjoyed? I have enjoyed it, yes. It has been as I wanted, not like the previous year. In 2021 I decided that I had to continue for another year because I wasn’t doing anything special and I didn’t want to leave like this. But this course, since it began, has been special to me from all aspects. I started winning, then I had a break partly due to being run over and due to a cold. I have contested the Vuelta and, although I didn’t win, we did a good job with Enric Mas. And this final stretch is turning out wonderful, as in my good years. Related News standard Non-cycling Movistar touches the sky with Van Vleuten: Tour, Vuelta, Giro and World Championship gold José Carlos Carabias standard Non-CYCLING / VUELTA A ESPAÑA Movistar, saving points and a new sponsor José Carlos Carabias -He has not won the Tour , but he is the Spanish cyclist with the most victories, more than Induráin, Perico Delgado or Contador. What does this data tell you? -For me it is an honor that I can be compared with these cyclists, true champions. But more than for my victories, I would like to be remembered as a great cyclist who has given everything for the fans, for the team and for myself. -Do you feel that he has been a different runner, that he has broken molds? – Well, maybe yes. There was Óscar Freire, a sensational classic lover, world champion, but perhaps he was not a Grand Tour rider. I was. Alberto Contador was indeed a long-distance cyclist, of great tours, and he has sufficiently demonstrated it. I was not like him, but I could also compete in the classics. And then there is Miguel Induráin, who was a lap champion and could also win classics. We have been different runners, each one with his style. -More than once you have recalled that Alberto Contador was the cyclist who had the hardest time overcoming. -It’s true, he has been a very good cyclist with great ambition, who was very difficult to leave behind. I have beaten him a few times, and other times he has triumphed, but he has always made it very difficult for me. Apart from the fact that he is Spanish and that satisfies me more, because I have competed against him on many occasions. What has been the best and the worst of his career? -The best thing has been to get here, enjoying cycling for so many years, this wonderful sport. That and the World Cup gold (2018), I wouldn’t change that for anything. There have been two very bad moments, one was the penalty (2010), which is there, and the other, the crash in the Tour de France (2017), when I broke my talus, patella, calcaneus and a hundred things, and I saw my career in danger. -He owns 133 victories in his record, he got used to winning. But what did he feel when he lost? -I’ve lost so many times that, well… You have to know how to win and lose in sport. The other day I was taking a look at my record and in addition to 133 victories I have another 111 second places and 105 third places. It means that I have won a lot, but I have come close to winning another two hundred times. -How many times have you seen the World Cup in Innsbruck repeated? -If I’m honest, I have to say that I haven’t seen him repeated many times, but I admit that every time I see him, he moves me as if he were running the race. It is a moment that has remained engraved in my head and I do not need to reproduce it many times because it is deep inside me and it is a feeling that I will never relive because it has been unique in my career. -In such a long career, has he ever calculated how many kilometers he has been able to travel by bicycle? Well, I don’t know, I have no idea. Let’s see, let’s calculate. During these last years I am doing between 30,000 and 38,000 kilometers per season. Multiply by twenty years of sports career and how much does it give? -760,000 kilometers, more or less… -Well, that as a cycling professional. If you add the ones I did as an amateur, which were much less, but they were also, well, we have a few kilometers there…-he has always had great support in the peloton. Who have been his best friends? -I could not tell you. I have always gotten along well with everyone. If it hadn’t been because I don’t know how to speak languages, I would still have gotten along much better with more colleagues. I feel very respected by the peloton and I also try to respect everyone. -Who thinks that he has made a mistake with the black stain of doping that has always been related to cycling, the runners, the teams, the doctors, the organizers, the press…? -For me, doping issues are forgotten, I have crossed them out of my mind. It is true that there were bad times in cycling, but I think that this sport is now experiencing a much better era, with very good youth and health. And the other thing is that there would be no need to talk about it or remember it. -Someone like you so dedicated to your sport, training and competition, are you prepared to be a former cyclist? -I’m going to set up a team with my name to compete in the entire veterans calendar, ha, ha, ha… No, seriously, above all I want to continue enjoying the bicycle. It is true that I am going to miss the competition bug because I have been dedicating myself to this for many years, but well, there are many nice things to do and I think I am going to really enjoy what I am going to start with now.
