Caisse d'Épargne: Valverde aiming for podium

Pereiro: ‘Glad it’s over’

Published: Jul. 4, 2008

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Valverde showed his strength in the classics, winning Liege.

Spain’s Green Bullet isn’t sweating it. Alejandro Valverde says if he doesn’t win the Tour de France this year, he’s got plenty more in his legs.

That’s not to say that he’s shying away from a unique opportunity to become the third consecutive Spanish winner, but Spain’s El Imbatido – “the unbeaten one” – is trying to tamp down over-zealous expectations from national media who are hyping his chances in the absence of defending champion Alberto Contador.

“I think the podium is the most realistic goal for me right now. Second or third, either one would be great,” Valverde said Friday. “Of course, I’d love to win it and if I have the chance I won’t let it slip away, but if I don’t win this year, it’s okay, too. I’m 28 and I have plenty of time in my career to try to win the Tour.”

Valverde’s stock rose dramatically following his surprise victory at the Dauphiné Libéré last month, when he beat back attacks from Cadel Evans and Levi Leipheimer, two riders who finished on last year’s Tour podium.

A confident Valverde shot down suggestions that he peaked too soon to win the Dauphiné and said he’s prepared well for his fourth-career Tour start.

“I wasn’t at my best at the Dauphiné, but I was strong in the time trial and able to use circumstances of the race to claim victory. It gives me a lot of motivation going into the Tour,” he said. “Two weeks later, I recovered well and was able to win the Spanish championship. I hope to use as little energy as possible in the first week and ride into the third week, ready for attacks from my rivals like Cunego, the Schlecks, Evans and Menchov. I’ve raced less this year, so I have more motivation to get on the bike and perform when I do.”

Valverde scored a win at this year's Dauphine

Photo: Graham Watson

Like compatriot Carlos Sastre, Valverde is often in trouble on the longer, flatter time trials. This year’s route, with more than 30km less of time trialing than last year, will favor the Spanish riders.

Valverde’s victory in a hilly, wet time trial course in the Dauphiné signaled improvements against the clock, but he knows he’ll be against the wall in the Tour’s penultimate stage with the 53km time trial to Saint-Amand-Montrond.

Valverde believes it will be the mountains, not the time trials, that will determine the outcome of this year’s Tour.

“I think the mountains will decide this Tour. The time trials are always important, but this year’s route has some very hard mountains,” he said. “The Alpe d’Huez stage could decide everything, not only because it’s already hard and long, but due to the three weeks of racing that we will have in our legs at that point. It’s going to be the decisive stage to tell who’s going to win or not win the Tour.”

Valverde will enjoy the support of a strong squad as he tries to become the third consecutive Spanish winner.

He hopes to become the first outright winner of that recent trio, however.

Teammate Oscar Pereiro was declared winner of the 2006 Tour following the disqualification of Floyd Landis in a doping scandal while Alberto Contador won last year’s Tour following the removal of race leader Michael Rasmussen with just four days to Paris.

No scandal questions

So far, the media has been quiet about Valverde’s alleged links to the Operación Puerto doping scandal from 2006.

Ahead of last year’s Tour, Valverde was questioned heavily by angry journalists about whether or not he was part of the widespread blood doping ring. Another year has passed, and no one raised the sensitive issue during Friday’s pre-race press conference.

Valverde admitted the media pressure and efforts by the UCI to keep him out of the world championships last fall weighed heavily on his performances in 2007.

“Last year was a series of circumstances that kept me from being my best on the bicycle in terms of training and other problems,” he said. “This year it’s calmer and I feel better on the bike. My head is calm and it’s helped me to be able to train better and focus on racing.”

Team manager Eusebio Unzue told VeloNews that distractions from the Puerto scandal last year affected Valverde more than he wanted to admit.

“The pressure that he had on him last year was incredible, more so than he realized at the time. There were too many distractions for him to do his job properly,” Unzue said. “Now we are able to let Alejandro focus on the racing and we’re the same racer that everyone knew he was.

Only time will tell if the Puerto story is finally put to bed. Valverde can only hope that the questions will all be about today and tomorrow instead of his past.

Pereiro moving on

Another rider who’s content to leave the past behind him is Pereiro.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport released a strongly worded rebuttal of Landis’s appeal this week and officially ended Pereiro’s long wait to put the story to rest.

Pereiro had already been officially declared the 2006 Tour winner by race and UCI officials, but admitted he couldn’t rest easy until the CAS decision was revealed.

“We are at the start of the 2008 Tour and people still want to talk about 2006. Out of respect of the riders and teams who’ve worked all year to be ready for this race, I think we should talk about that. It’s a story that was finished for me last year,” Pereiro said. “I think it stinks enough already.”

Although he managed to finish 10th in the 2007 Tour, he also admits the distractions from the Landis case undermined his motivation to train and race at the level he had grown accustomed to.

For Pereiro, this season is about forgetting last season and getting back to the rider he believes he can still be.

“The only good thing about the CAS decision is that it’s over, finished, done, and my name forever stays as the winner of the 2006 Tour,” Pereiro said. “And now we can finally start to speak freely about the Tour this year, and the Tours to come in 2009 and 2010, without obsessing any longer on the past.”

Pereiro says he hopes to help Valverde without forgetting his own personal ambitions.

“More than anything, I’d love to be able to win another stage. That was my best memory as a Tour rider was when I won a stage in 2005,” he said. “I’d love to be in the top 5 in this Tour. Last year, I was still able to finish 10th despite all the distractions I had coming into the Tour and I wasn’t able to train like I normally would.”

Pereiro has been remarkably consistent during four Tour starts, finishing in the top 10 each time, including his second place in 2006 before being promoted to winner following the Landis scandal.

He’ll lend a hand to Valverde yet not forget he’s already won one Tour.

“This Tour could deliver a lot of surprises. There are several circumstances that stack up in favor of Alejandro, so he cannot let this opportunity by,” he said. “We’ll see how things shake out in the Pyrénées, but Alejandro begins the Tour as the No. 1 candidate for our team. We’ll see how I can go this year. If I’m in the top 5 going into the Alps, I won’t discount anything.”