Alejandro Valverde: The success story of ‘El Bala’

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He couldn’t have had a better setting for his farewell Alexander Valverde that he Tour of Lombardy, with a brilliant sixth place in the last cycling monument of the year, in ‘the classic of dead leaves’. A title with classic memories, recalling the great movies of past years or the best books of romantic writers, whose last chapter is dedicated to a cyclist born on April 25, 1980 in the luminaries, Murcia, in the bosom of a small family, who carved a clean novice road, where he did not leave a single crumb for his rivals, hence one of his nicknames, ‘El Imbatido’; in the first steps of one of the most brilliant races of the national peloton in the last 20 years.

Alejandro is the son of María and Juan and the third of three siblings, Juan Francisco, José Antonio and himself. He is the father of five children: Ivan, Alejandro, Pablo, Natalia and Alessandra. His family experienced cycling closely, especially at the hands of his father, who was a novice cyclist. He started cycling at the age of nine, in the cycling club Bacon Bridgefollowing the wheel of his father, with whom he became so close that he always said that if he had not been a cyclist he would have spent his life in the cab of a truck, like his father, who was a truck driver.

He debuted as a professional in 2002, at Kelme. He was there until 2005. In 2003 in the Basque Country he achieved his first professional victory, leading the longer-lived Rebellin (51 years old). Two years later he was close to the umbrella of Eusebio Unzué, Balearic Islands-Caisse d’Epargne, a structure that he considers his second family and to which he will continue to be associated for two years. His experience cannot be overlooked, at Movistar or as the sponsor of the Valverde Team training team. Alejandro will always be an asset to cycling.

in Lombardy ‘the bullet’ a tribute was given to one of the few trials that resisted it. He has not only been one of the most successful, with 133 victories, but also one of the most versatile, capable of winning one day, seven or 21 events. Except for 2010 and 2011 -sanctioned by Port Operations– and in a pandemic 2020, he raised his arms every year and even it showed great form, with two wins, with a second place in Strade Bianche and the Walloon Arrowperformance that made him doubt his retirement, but Valverde left him at the top, like the greats, leaving traps in the form of falls that punish every runner, like the 2017 Tour or 2021 Vuelta, which forced him to abandon ‘his career’ in tears.

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Those pains, of disappointment, yesterday turned into tears of a man who has honored his sport for 21 years, who can boast a great record: 5 Fleche Walloon (2006, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017), 4 Liège -Bastogne- Liège (2006, 2008, 2015, 2016) or the still remembered 2018 World Cup that everyone enjoyed, because he has the respect of the team and the admiration of the fans, for his achievements and his closeness and fight.

A runner who makes a hobby and who misses. Thanks for everything, ‘Balaverde’.

Source: La Verdad

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