2006 VeloNews Awards: International Cyclist of the Year
At home with 2006 UCI ProTour winner Alejandro Valverde
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At first, as he rolls a half-full glass of beer between his hands, Alejandro Valverde simply smiles on hearing the question. Then he responds: “Of course I want to win the Tour de France. But first I have to finish one.” With that, Spain’s greatest rider in a generation falls into an infectious laugh.
There’s not much that can throw Valverde into a bad mood these days. And rightly so. At 26, the compact climber/sprinter is coming off the best season of his already prolific career. When When Valverde greets Valverde first leads us to his overflowing trophy room and then into his three-car garage, which is stuffed with enough toys to make any man happy: a Porsche Cayenne, a Mercedes sedan and a Mini Cooper, along with a quad and scooter. A parrot and two dogs round out the household. The place is so full of trophies, photos, memorabilia and special prizes (including a telescope and a wood-carved sheep’s head) that Valverde has yet to find space for his pair of world championship silver medals, which hang forlornly from the knob of a cupboard door. “I’ve been meaning to get those properly mounted,” he says with a shrug.After the tour, Valverde proposes a trip into town for lunch. We fall in behind his Porsche Cayenne and try to stay on his tail as he rips along back roads past orange groves for a whistle-stop visit with his in-laws, who are waiting next to the road in front of their rambling home. After a quick chat and a wave, Valverde peels away and heads into Murcia. We pull into open parking slots in front of city hall. A police officer says we cannot park there, the space is reserved for the mayor. But when he sees it’s Murcia’s favorite son, Valverde, we’re allowed to stay. The Valverdes disappear into city hall to meet with a local official. When they return, 20 minutes later, Angela Valverde heads toward a store before it closes for lunch while we wind through the narrow streets of downtown Murcia. Valverde apologizes for the unexpected change of plans. Even for Spain’s best cyclist, the in-laws come first. But sitting on the covered terrace of his favorite Italian restaurant in the heart of ancient Murcia, Valverde can finally relax. He can even afford to chug a cerveza or two. The restaurant owner is a big fan and hovers close to make sure the waiters are clearing plates and keeping the beer glasses full. SMILING ASSASSIN From the podium of the 2006 Liège-Bastogne-Liège to moments after winning his “home race” at the 2004 Vuelta a Murcia to podium shots of three of the past four world championships, Valverde’s home is a shrine to both his personal and professional life.“I try not to take things too seriously,” he explains. “Don’t misunderstand [me] because I am absolutely serious and professional in the correct ways. But I also don’t forget we are sportsmen. That is a privilege.” Valverde has plenty to smile about after his 2006 season. Though he didn’t come close to his prolific output of 33 wins in the three previous seasons, he clearly traded quantity for quality with seven high-profile victories. Among his scalps were the Flèche Wallonne/Liège-Bastogne-Liège double, a stage win and second overall at the Vuelta a España, the bronze medal at the Salzburg road world’s, and stage victories in the Basque Country, Murcia and Romandie stage races. First place in the overall UCI ProTour standings was the ultimate reward for his efforts. “The ProTour title is important because it rewards the most consistent rider,” he says. “It’s significant because I could win from the spring through the world’s.” That consistency marked Valverde’s arrival among pro cycling’s elite after a journey that has been as remarkably smooth as it has been rapid. Turning pro at age 21, he had a blank first year. But the wins piled up during his second season, which saw him win two stages and take third place overall at the Vuelta. Less than two years later, he reached a whole new level when he beat Lance Armstrong in a hard-fought mountaintop stage finish at Courchevel in the 2005 Tour de France. “Valverde is a huge star,” says Saunier Duval sport director Joxean Fernández. “Spain has three big stars: [Oscar] Freire, [Iban] Mayo and Valverde, but only Valverde has the potential to win the Tour right now.” You have to peel back several layers of the smiling façade to find the warrior capable of winning in cycling’s dirtiest trenches. Valverde has a fierce competitive streak, but he keeps it hidden until he clips into his pedals. Unlike a Lance Armstrong, who tapped into his inner anger to fuel his ambitions on the bike, Valverde has never had that mean streak that has driven so many of cycling’s legendary champions. If Armstrong was more like the ravenous Eddy Merckx, Valverde more resembles Miguel Induráin, the affable giant who swept to five straight Tour wins with the modesty of a Spanish peasant. “Alejandro is very tranquilo,” says Caisse d’Épargne-Illes Balears teammate Oscar Pereiro. “He doesn’t feel like a big team captain even though we all know he is. He’s more like a teammate than the boss.”
Some babies are born ugly. Some babies are born fat. Valverde, apparently, was born with a smile. How do we know? Because there’s an 8x10 picture of baby Alejandro along with another dozen or so photos crowding his dining room table. Scores more photos and portraits scattered throughout his house share one characteristic: the “smiling Alejandro.” His perfect ivories challenge those of Spanish movie star Antonio Banderas for wattage.
For the complete text of this article and a complete summary of all of our 2006 Awards, see the current issue of VeloNews.VELONEWS.COMREADERS’ CHOICEPaolo Bettini - 30.63%Gunn-Rita Dahle - 27.63%Alexandre Vinokourov - 17.56%Alejandro Valverde - 11.57%Fabian Cancellara - 5.81%Nicole Cooke - 3.97%Julien Absalon - 2.82%
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