Alejandro Valverde Belmonte, born on 25 April 1980 in Las Lumbreras in the southern Spanish province of Murcia, is an ambitious man through and through. And since this season, following the departure of Francisco Mancebo, he has been the sole leader of his team.
Valverde: "I've known since my youth that I wanted to become a professional."
"This is my chance," he says, adding: "The pressure and my responsibility are increasing." Valverde must be prepared for this. He has been training intensively with his team Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne since the beginning of spring, usually for three to five hours a day. Everything is focussed on these hours. The rest of the time, the meals, massages and extended rest periods are also focussed solely on getting the performance right on the bike. It is a kind of parallel world in which Valverde and his colleagues exist, completely detached from everyday life - and about as far away from the nearby "Ballermann" as the earth is from the moon. "Ever since I was young, I knew I wanted to be a professional. That's why I never thought about dedicating myself to anything else," says the Spaniard.
Valverde beats Armstrong in Courchevel 2005
Cycling fans still remember the moment when Valverde captivated millions of people around the world: it was 5.22pm on 12 July 2005. After an ultimately one-sided battle between the big favourites in the tenth stage of the Tour de France leads Lance Armstrong the quartet with Michael Rasmussen, Francisco Mancebo and Alejandro Valverde towards the finish. Jan UllrichIvan Basso and Levi Leipheimer fall far behind. Tour debutant Valverde's heart rate monitor measures 195 beats per minute. Armstrong makes the final attack, but he can't get rid of the man on his rear wheel. From this optimal position, Valverde sprints off and crosses the finish line first in the winter sports resort of Courchevel, 2000 metres above sea level. "Maybe we've seen the future of cycling here," commented Lance Armstrong on the outcome of the stage, "he's young, he's fast, he's strong. Alejandro has everything."
"You are born to be a great racing cyclist," says Alejandro Valverde when asked whether talent or hard work is the decisive factor for a successful career. Valverde still has to train his only obvious weakness so far, the time trial.
The Italian biomechanist Alessandro Mariano is to help with the optimal position. "But that is certainly also a mental issue," says Alfonso Galilea, another of the team's sporting directors.
Valverde becomes team captain after Mancebo's departure
Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne returns to its recipe for success in 2006: "We always have a leader, the team rallies around him," says sports director José Luis Jaimerena. The team - successors to Reynolds and Banesto - often had strong protagonists. The outstanding ones: Pedro Delgado and Miguel Induraín. Following the departure of Francisco Mancebo before the season, the leading role has clearly gone to Alejandro Valverde. Mancebo, 2005 Tour and Vuelta Fourth, switched to AG2R. The financial offer is said to have been convincing. But the Spaniards are not complaining about this, rather the opposite.
"The team has become more balanced," says Jaimerena, referring to a balance that should serve the top rider. "Alejandro is the boss here, and riders like Karpets and I are in the second line," says Oscar Pereiro, a newcomer from Phonak and twice tenth in the Tour de France. Pereiro also has the goal of riding to the front at the Tour de France and winning a stage - but always with Valverde in mind. An astonishing statement for someone who stood out as the most aggressive rider in the Tour of France in 2005.
Alejandro Valverde also captain of the Classics
Colleague Constantino Zaballa says: "I will sacrifice myself for Valverde." One of the team's goals for 2006 is to be stronger in the classics than in the past. In addition to Zaballa, who came from Saunier Duval, Alejandro Valverde is the captain.
Profile Alejandro Valverde
- born: 25 April 1980 in Las Lumbreras, Murcia
- Size: 1.78 metres
- Weight: 61 kilos
- Professional since: 2002
- previous teams: Kelme Costa Blanca (2002-2003), Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme (2004), Illes Balears (2005), Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne
- Tour de France starts: 1; Stage win 2005
- most important successes: Stage wins in Tour of Spain 2003 (2)/2004, Tour of Burgos 2003/2004, Paris-Nice 2005, Tour of the Basque Country 2005 (2), overall victory in Tour of Burgos 2004
