When the Giro d’Italia starts on Friday, Alejandro Valverde will be riding his first Italian Grand Tour in his long career. By the end of the race in Turin, the Spaniard hopes to have joined two exclusive clubs: a group of riders who have won stages in all three Grand Tours and the group of riders who have finished on the GC podium of all three Grand Tours.
“A good result for me? Stepping onto the podium and having won one or more stages,” Valverde said in a video interview on the Movistar team’s website page. “We’ll give our very best, as well as myself and the whole Movistar team to make them happy. I’m so glad to be racing the Giro for the first time.”
After originally planning to ride the Flemish Classics, Valverde opted out and rode the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon, where he won to stages and the GC. This was added to the Ruta del Sol queen stage and GC from back in February. He then added a record fourth win in Fleche Wallonne.
“My approach to the Giro has been perfect. We’ve trained well, rode whatever we wanted to, even winning some big races,” said Valverde. “We chose to skip the Tour of Flanders in order to go training to Tenerife, but not Teide – we stayed by the coast in the south. To me, it was more important to get some hours of long climbing under my belt, rather than staying at altitude. I preferred to stay calm with my people, avoiding any pressure and doing some climbs with good temperatures.”
Valverde’s teammates are Giovanni Visconti. Completing the line-up are Andre Amador, Rory Sutherland, Jasha Sutterlin, Javi Moreno, Jose Joaquin Rojas and Jose Herrada. Valverde says it is a really balanced team.
“We’ve got specialist groups for the flat, good riders for mid-high mountains and we're extremely motivated. We’ve got to stay focused and always ride at the front. Plus, racing in the Netherlands means the roads will be narrow and twisty. I’m still calm, as I know I’ll have a great team around me. With their support, I know I won’t have any problems. There are some difficult finishes, like Roccaraso, and also the dirt roads on the Alpe di Poti, just one day before the time trial.”
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