Alejandro Valverde says goodbye to world ‘top 10’

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Thanks to his sixth place in Lombardy, at the age of 42, the Murcian finishes his last year in tenth position in the UCI ranking

There are still five events on the UCI calendar (Tour of Langkawi, Giro del Veneto, Veneto Classic, Chrono des Nations and the Japan Cup), but most of the leading cyclists in the international squad have already finished their season, so the The ‘ranking list’ published yesterday by the International Cycling Union (UCI) will see few variations for the rest of the year.

For the second year in a row, Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar ends the year at the top of this standings thanks to his 16 victories, including the Strade Bianche, his three stages in the Tour and his recent victory in the Giro de Lombardia. In second place appears Wout van Aert who, despite not achieving a Monument, managed to achieve nine victories, three of which, as a Slovenian runner, in the ‘Grand Boucle’. The podium is closed by Remco Evenepoel with his 15 wins, including his first Monument in Liège, his first Grand Tour in the Vuelta a España and his first World Championship in Wollongong (Australia).

The Murcian Alejandro Valverde, who has been in business for 21 years, is a fixture in this ranking and has not let it go in his last season. Not even at 42, an age by which all runners have long since retired, has the man who was world road champion in 2018 fallen out of the top ten. The Murcian’s sixth place last Saturday at Il Lombardía, It helped he climbs three positions and finishes in the top ten in what was his last season as a professional. The Las Lumbreras runner has added three wins this year (Challenge Mallorca and O Gran Camiño, with one stage) to an unrepeatable record of 133 wins.

The best Spaniards behind Valverde are Pello Bilbao (17th position), who finished fifth in the Giro d’Italia and stage winner in Itzulia, Germany and the Tour of the Alps; and Enric Mas, 20th, after climbing to eight positions thanks to his stellar season finale, winning the Giro de Emilia and finishing second in the Vuelta a España and Lombardy.

Other Spanish cyclists who are in the ‘top 100’ are Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), 25th; Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers), 29th; Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious), 30th – 23rd places after finishing third in Il Lombardía-; Iván García Cortina (Movistar Team), 57th – with an improvement of 28 positions after his victory in the Gran Piemonte –; Jesus Herrada (Cofidis), 64th; Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), 80º; and Alex Aranburu (Movistar Team), 83rd.

The season is over purely competitive, but there are still races to play. Where there will be more level in the Saitama Criterium in Japan, scheduled for Sunday November 6, with a poster led by Jonas Vingegaard and Alejandro Valverde himself, who will experience a second goodbye in a test without UCI points he already won anno 2018.

The Japanese public can also see Enric Mas, Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali, Jonathan Castroviejo, Sepp Kuss, Steven Kruijswijk, Guillaume Martin, Geraint Thomas, Jasper Philipsen, Mark Cavendish… and of course Yukiya Arashiro, winner of the last edition of 2019 Everyone will enjoy a festive day with the tens of thousands of spectators who traditionally gather along the 3.5 km long street circuit, which the riders will complete 17 laps.

Source: La Verdad

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