At 36 years of age, Alejandro Valverde will make his Giro d'Italia debut next year , the only grand tour that he has not yet attended the rider. In the last few weeks, Movistar manager has been considering whether to bring the number one in the 2014 and 2015 WorldTour to Italy or to go with a young team with riders like Tour de l'Avenir winner Marc Sole.

According to El Periodico, a decision has been made. At the first team gathering in Pamplona this week, Unzue has reportedly convinced Valverde who was initially was not in favor of changing the usual program: the Ardennes classics (he won Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 2015), rest in May, the Criterium Dauphine in June and the Tour in July where he finished third in 2015.

The main reason for his hesitation was that participation in both the Giro and the Tour will effectively rule out the Vuelta where he has always been a protagonist.

Apparently, the decision has been made. Valverde will be the team leader of Movistar in the Giro, then go to the Tour where he will ride in support of Nairo Quintana who was second in Paris in 2015, and finally focus on the Olympics in Rio whose course suits his characteristics and where he can expect to share Spanish leadership with Alberto Contador and Joaquim Rodriguez.

"The decision is not yet final, however, it is purely for sporting reasons," Unzue told Spanish newspaper El País.

Quintana will be the Movistar leader in both the Tour and the Vuelta and has also expressed his desire to do the Olympics.