Alejandro Valverde

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Valverde and the second or maternal family name is Belmonte.

Alejandro Valverde

Valverde at the 2015 Tour de France
Personal information
Full name	Alejandro Valverde Belmonte
Nickname	Balaverde (The Green Bullet) El Bala (The Bullet) El Imbatido (The Unbeaten)
Born	(1980-04-25) 25 April 1980 Las Lumbreras, Spain
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	61 kg (134 lb; 9.6 st)
Team information
Current team	Movistar Team
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All-rounder
Professional team(s)
2002–2004	Kelme–Costa Blanca
2005–	Movistar Team
Major wins
Grand Tours Giro d'Italia 1 individual stage (2016) Tour de France 4 individual stages (2005, 2008, 2012) Vuelta a España General classification (2009) Points classification (2012, 2013, 2015) Combination classification (2003, 2009, 2012) 9 individual stages (2003–2015) Stage races Critérium du Dauphiné (2008, 2009) Volta a Catalunya (2009) Vuelta a Andalucía (2012, 2013, 2014, 2016) Vuelta a Burgos (2004, 2009) Vuelta a Castilla y León (2016) One-day races and Classics National Road Race Championships (2008, 2015) National Time Trial Championships (2014) Liège–Bastogne–Liège (2006, 2008, 2015) La Flèche Wallonne (2006, 2014, 2015, 2016) Clásica de San Sebastián (2008, 2014) Paris–Camembert (2008) Roma Maxima (2014) Vuelta a Murcia (2014) GP Miguel Indurain (2014) Other UCI Pro Tour (2006, 2008) UCI World Tour (2014, 2015)
Medal record Representing Spain Road bicycle racing World Championships 2003 Hamilton Road race 2005 Madrid Road race 2006 Salzburg Road race 2012 Valkenburg Road race 2013 Florence Road race 2014 Ponferrada Road race
Infobox last updated on 24 May 2016

Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (born 25 April 1980) is a Spanish road racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team Movistar Team. Valverde's biggest wins have been the 2009 Vuelta a España, Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2006, 2008 and 2015, La Flèche Wallonne (2006, 2014, 2015 and 2016), the Clásica de San Sebastián (2008 and 2014), the 2006 and 2008 UCI ProTours, and the 2014 and 2015 UCI World Tours. He has twice collected the silver medal in the UCI Road World Championships, in 2003 and 2005, as well as the bronze four times in 2006, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Valverde is rare in combining different specialities in road bicycle racing, being a strong climber, sprinter and time-trialist in his later years. After a lengthy court battle, he was suspended for two years as part of the Operación Puerto blood doping investigation, but he returned to competition in 2012 upon completion of the ban.

Biography

Born in Las Lumbreras, Murcia, Valverde came from a cycling family, his father Juan was an amateur bicycle racer and bought him a bike when he was six years old. His brother Juan Francisco was also an amateur road racing cyclist. Valverde's first race was in Jumilla, in his region of Murcia, and he finished second. On the following week he won his second race in Yecla. He allegedly took more than fifty consecutive victories between 11 and 13 years old, earning him the nickname El Imbatido (The Unbeaten).

Amateur career

Due to his many wins, Valverde was offered to ride for the elite amateur team Banesto based in Navarra, some distance away from his home in Murcia. Perhaps due to the exhaustion from having to travel back and forth every weekend, his performance suffered while with the team.

He moved to the development team of the Kelme professional squad and was coached by Francisco Moya, whom he credited with helping him become a better cyclist. Kelme also promised to allow him to move to the professional squad if he showed good performance. At the end of his first season with the Kelme amateur squad, they offered to move him to the professional squad.

Kelme (2002–2004)

Valverde turned professional in 2002 when he signed a contract with the Spanish team Kelme–Costa Blanca, with whom he stayed until the end of the 2004 season. During his time with Kelme he had a breakthrough year in 2003 Vuelta a España, where he won two stages and finished third in the General classification. That year he also won the Vuelta a Mallorca and a stage in Tour of the Basque Country and other Spanish races like GP Primavera and GP Villafranca de Ordizia. He ended the season with a second place in the 2003 UCI Road World Championships behind Igor Astarloa after winning the sprint ahead of Peter Van Petegem and Paolo Bettini.

In the 2004 season he decided to stay with Kelme despite the team's financial woes and offers from other teams. He went on to win the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, the Vuelta a Murcia, a stage in the Tour of the Basque Country, the Vuelta a Burgos and taking fourth in the 2004 Vuelta a España. Although he won a stage in the Vuelta, he was injured in a crash that forced him to downscale his ambitions in the overall classification. He also participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Caisse d'Epargne

Valverde joined the UCI ProTeam Illes Balears–Caisse d'Epargne in 2005. He won the last stage in Paris–Nice and finished second overall behind Bobby Julich. He also took two stages in the Tour of the Basque Country. In his first ever appearance at the Tour de France, he won the 10th stage of the Tour de France ahead of Lance Armstrong, whom he beat in the sprint into Courchevel at the end of a mountain stage in the Alps. After Stage 12, he was in 5th place on GC, 3 minutes and 16 seconds behind Lance Armstrong. He was also leading in the Young Rider Classification (white jersey), with a 3-minute and 9 second lead on Armstrong teammate Yaroslav Popovych. However, Valverde was forced to withdraw from the Tour during the 13th stage because of a knee injury. Valverde recovered barely in time for the UCI World Cycling Championship in Madrid, Spain. The injury of Óscar Freire, who was the Spanish team captain, forced him to become the team leader, despite having had only one day of competition before the World's. Amazingly, he was able to be competitive and finished second to winner Tom Boonen.

2006

In 2006, Valverde won a stage in the Tour of the Basque Country, finishing 2nd overall and capturing the points competition. He then completed a prestigious double in the Spring classics, winning La Flèche Wallonne and taking victory four days later at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Valverde subsequently won a stage in the Tour de Romandie finishing 3rd overall. Valverde planned to challenge at the 2006 Tour de France, and has stated that he hopes to win in the future. He went to the Pinarello bicycle factory in Treviso, Italy, to optimize his time-trialing performance. In fact he started among the favourites for the Tour after the withdrawal of Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso due to a doping investigation. However, on the third stage of the 2006 Tour de France, Valverde crashed, and had to abandon the Tour with a fractured right collarbone. His ambition to win a Grand Tour shifted to the Vuelta, later that year.

Valverde entered the 2006 Vuelta as the top favorite. Since he did not ride a full Tour de France he was in better condition than some of the other candidates for the victory: Menchov (title defender) and Sastre both ended in the top 10 of the 2006 Tour de France and were expected to be somewhat fatigued. Valverde won the 7th stage and dominated mountain stages, earning him the gold leader jersey after stage 9. Valverde lost the jersey however due to the aggressive climbing and attacking of Alexander Vinokourov. In the last time trial, Valverde again lost time on Vinokourov and had to settle for the 2nd place in the overall standings, his second podium finish in a Grand Tour. Following his impressive performance in the Vuelta Valverde won yet another major title, winning the 2006 UCI ProTour with several major races still left on the calendar as his point lead had reached unassailable levels. At the 2006 World Championship, Valverde was considered one of the favorites for the title. Although he did not win, he was able to finish 3rd and claim a bronze medal.

2007

He started 2007 by winning the overall classification at Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and Vuelta a Murcia. In stage 4 of the Vuelta a Murcia, Valverde accomplished his first win in an individual time trial. He also finished third in the Critérium International and fifth in Tour of the Basque Country. In the Ardennes classics he took second place in both La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, unable to repeat the double victory of 2006 season. In the 2007 Tour de France, Valverde was seen as one of the favorites for the yellow jersey until he had a disastrous individual time trial that diminished his chances of fighting for the overall classification. He subsequently finished sixth overall, eleven minutes behind, and thus finished his first Tour de France after being unable to complete the race in 2005 and 2006. He decided not to race the Vuelta a España in order to prepare for the 2007 UCI Road World Championships. On 29 August 2007, the UCI announced that they prevented Valverde from riding the 2007 UCI Road World Championships in Stuttgart because of his possible implication in the Operación Puerto doping investigation to safeguard the atmosphere and reputation of the World Championships. The UCI also called upon the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) to open disciplinary proceedings against the rider, but RFEC refused to comply with the UCI's request, saying there was no new evidence against him. RFEC also included Valverde in its squad for the World Championships, where he ended up 2nd. The matter was taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which authorised Valverde to participate in the 2007 UCI Road World Championships.

2008

Valverde at the 2008 Vuelta a España, wearing the blue jersey of points classification leader.

In 2008, Valverde showed strong form in the spring. After winning the Vuelta a Murcia, Valverde was focused on training. He announced his readiness with a podium finish in the Klasika Primavera and a triumph at the Paris–Camembert. These successes foreshadowed excellent results in the Ardennes classics: a podium at the Amstel Gold and victory in the Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Valverde also won the 2008 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and the Spanish National Road Race Championship in June. On 5 July, Valverde won the first stage of the 2008 Tour de France. His form faltered in the Pyrenees, and after being dropped on the Col de Tourmalet, eventually losing 5'52" to stage winner Leonardo Piepoli, scrapping hopes of a podium finish. He performed better in the Alps and claimed a top ten finish. On Alpe d'Huez it appeared that he was working alongside Team CSC to try to eliminate Cadel Evans. He followed the Tour with a strong victory in 2008 Clásica de San Sebastián, leading out the sprint and holding off Aleksandr Kolobnev and Davide Rebellin. Later, at the 2008 Vuelta a España, he started strong, winning the second stage and wearing the general classification leader on the third one. He was among the leaders in the first week. However, he lost around two minutes on a very wet stage to Saunces and any chance of a podium finish. However, he ended up in fourth position overall at thr end with some strong performances including an impressive ride up the Angliru, where he was only bettered by Alberto Contador and then a good performance in the mountain time-trial. Before the participation at the 2008 UCI Road World Championships at Varese, he was mathematically proclammed the 2008 UCI ProTour winner, being his second win in the four editions of the competition.

2009

Valverde wearing the leader's jersey at the 2009 Vuelta a España

Valverde started 2009 in good form by taking the points and mountain classification in the Vuelta a Castilla y León while finishing 9th overall with two stage victories. He could not repeat his successes of the last few years in the spring classics with his best result being a 7th at La Flèche Wallonne. He won the Klasika Primavera and the Volta a Catalunya to put those disappointments behind him. With the threat of not racing the Tour de France hanging over his head he entered the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré hoping to prove his worth. He performed consistently throughout the two early time-trials to stay in touch with the leaders before finishing second on the Ventoux to take the lead in the overall classification. Though Cadel Evans repeatedly attacked him in the final days he stayed on his wheel, with the help of compatriot Alberto Contador, to take the yellow jersey. On the back of these successes he appealed his ban by the Italian authorities with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the hope of racing the tour. On 20 September 2009, Valverde clinched the overall victory in the 2009 Vuelta a España. Despite having no stage victories, Valverde's consistency in the mountains allowed him to keep his race all the way to end that he captured on stage 9.

2010

All his 2010 results were annulled because of the suspension.

2012

Valverde at the 2012 Tour de France; he won the seventeenth stage of the race.

Valverde made his return to the peloton during the 2012 Tour Down Under, the first race of the UCI World Tour season. He won the race's fifth stage – the queen stage of the event – by out-sprinting

1. REDIRECT Template:Cycling data MTS men's Simon Gerrans in a two-man sprint in Willunga, and finished second overall. He earned his first overall victory since his return, by winning February's Vuelta a Andalucia, as well as achieving a stage victory during the race. Valverde also finished third in Paris-Nice, and by winning stage 3 showed good form for the upcoming Tour de France. In the Tour de France he sat casually in the peloton until initiating a breakaway in stage 17, which he held onto after breaking away from the other 16 riders in the breakaway. Team Sky almost chased him down, ending only 19 seconds adrift. Hence Valverde won a 4th Tour de France stage of his career.

Valverde entered the Vuelta a España as a lieutenant to the defending champion Juan José Cobo in the Movistar team. However, Valverde would soon become the leader when it became apparent that Cobo was not in top form. His team Movistar started off with a victory in the first stage, a team time trial, of the Vuelta. Valverde would take the lead of the general classification, points classification, and combination classification after winning Stage 3, in which he chased down repeated attacks from Alberto Contador and outsprinted Joaquim Rodríguez at the finishing line. He would subsequently lose the lead to Rodriguez, but won the eighth stage atop the Collada de la Gallina in Andorra. Alberto Contador broke away from the small lead group and looked like he was heading for the win, but Rodriguez and Valverde passed him with less than 100 m (330 ft) to go, with Valverde taking the win. Valverde ultimately finished the Vuelta in second position overall after being a constant threat for the leader, which was Rodriguez until stage 17 where Contador soloed to victory and grabbed the lead, which he would not relinquish. Valverde also snatched both the Points classification and the Combination classification jerseys from Rodriguez as a result of a sixth-place finish on the very last stage in Madrid.

Valverde had to settle for a bronze medal in the World Championships in Valkenburg, as he was unable to reach Philippe Gilbert who attacked on the final climb of the Cauberg. He was the first of a group of 27 riders who had a five seconds deficit on the Belgian when crossing the line. He was supposed to participate in the Giro di Lombardia, but announced on the morning of the race that he was suffering from influenza and was putting an end to his 2012 season.

2013

Valverde wearing the Green Jersey at the 2013 Vuelta a España

As in 2012, Valverde won the overall classification of the Vuelta a Andalucía in 2013, where he also won the points classification in the race. Valverde continued showing some good form after finishing with podium places in the Vuelta a Murcia, the Amstel Gold Race and in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege. After having a decent spring campaign, Valverde aimed for a podium finish in the Tour de France. Valverde started the Tour in good form after finishing third in Ax3 Domaines behind Chris Froome and Richie Porte. However the next day, Porte lost over 15 minutes which moved Valverde into second overall right before the tour left the Pyrenees. On Stage 13, Valverde lost almost 10 minutes after getting a flat tire. Despite a very hard pursuit, the high crosswinds and the pace of the peloton prevented him and his teammates from catching back. They ended up with the second group at the finish causing him to slip out of the top ten. Despite losing his second position, Valverde managed to do well in the Alps which moved him back into the top ten of the overall standings, finishing 8th overall.

At the Vuelta a España, after stage 10, Valverde sat fourth overall a minute behind race leader Chris Horner. However, on stage 11, he moved back up into 3rd after finishing 8th in the time trial. On stage 14, on a rainy descent, Valverde was dropped by the G.C. contenders entering the final climb a minute back. He managed to limit his losses on the final climb staying within a minute of his rivals, though losing close to a minute on Nibali, Horner, and Rodriguez. On stage 16, he managed to cut back a handful of seconds on Nibali and Horner. He entered the penultimate stage 20 a minute behind the race leader. He came third of the stage which finished atop the steep Angliru, securing a podium finish in the general classification, one minute and 36 seconds behind race winner Chris Horner. At the World's Championships, he took the third place, but was criticized for failing to cover the late attack of Portuguese Rui Costa. Costa eventually reached and out sprinted Joaquim Rodríguez, Valverde's fellow Spaniard and teammate.

2014

Valverde at the 2015 Tour de France.

In the 2014 Tour de France Valverde ended in fourth place in the general classification. On 2 August 2014 Valverde won the Clásica de San Sebastián for the second time in his career. He won the first uphill finish of the Vuelta a Espana by powering away from the leaders after leading the group for most of the final climb. He finished the Spanish Grand Tour on the third step of the podium behind Chris Froome and the overall winner Alberto Contador. After the Vuelta, it was announced that Valverde had signed a three-year contract with his team, Movistar, meaning that he would ride for them until at least 2017. At the World Road Race Championships in Ponferrada, Valverde stood on the third step on the podium for the third year in a row. He came in second at the Giro di Lombardia, passing Alberto Contador for first place in the UCI World Tour rankings.

2015

Valverde on the podium after winning the 2015 Liege-Bastogne-Liege

Valverde grabbed three stage victories in the Volta a Catalunya. On stage 2, he got the better of a bunch sprint and helped score a 1-2 for Movistar with his teammate José Joaquín Rojas. On stage 5, he launched a late attack as he was part of a small group containing all the leaders coming into Valls and won solo. On the last stage (7), he won the sprint of a group of about 40 riders and with the seconds bonifications, snatched the second place of the overall classification from Domenico Pozzovivo. At the Amstel Gold Race he came in second, being bested in a small group sprint by Michal Kwiatkowski. The following Wednesday, Valverde equalled the record number of victories on La Flèche Wallonne with 3, distancing Julian Alaphilippe and Michael Albasini in the final meters of the Mur de Huy. He went one better the following Sunday, winning the sprint of a small group of riders to impose himself on Liège–Bastogne–Liège. It was the third time in his career Valverde had won La Doyenne. It was also the second time that he had won Liège–Bastogne–Liège and La Flèche Wallonne in the same year, becoming only the second rider to have achieved this double twice, after Ferdi Kübler. In June, he won the National Road Race Championship. At the 2015 Tour de France, Valverde finished on the podium in 3rd place, his first podium finish at the Tour; achieving a lifelong dream of a top 3 finish at le Tour. With that finish he has one career goal left, a World Championship.

2016

Valverde´s main goals for the 2016 season are the Ardennes Classics, the Giro d´Italia and the Road Race at the Olympic Games in Rio. He started his season by taking the overall at the Vuelta a Andalucía in February. He out-powered the rest of the contenders, including Tejay van Garderen and Rafal Majka, on the climb up to the finish on the final stage. Valverde changed his initial plan of riding the Tour of Flanders and went to Tenerife to prepare for the Giro. He returned to competition by winning two stages and the overall at the Castilla y León which he chose to race instead of the Amstel Gold Race, a race still lacking from his Palmáres.

The following Wednesday he took his third consecutive Flèche Wallone and became the most prolific winner of the "smallest" Ardennes Classic with his fourth victory. He showed his climbing prowess by controlling up until the last 150 meters when he accelerated away from his rivals to take the victory. On Sunday he went out to repeat his Ardenne Double from 2015 by securing another Liege-Bastogne-Liege win but he fell short and only managed to finish 16th.

Valverde was named in the start list for the Giro d'Italia, his first participation in the Italian race. The spanish veteran rode a consistent race but struggled in the high mountains especially on the queens stage in the Dolomites where he lost more than three minutes. He fought back the very next day with a third place in the Mountain Time Trail and managed to win his first ever Giro d'Italia stage the day after the rest day in Brixen-Andalo, his 14. GrandTour stage win in total. He secured his spot on the podium by outclimbing Steven Kruijswijk on the very last mountain stage and finished third overall, becoming only the 16. cyclist to finish on the podium in each of the three GrandTours.

Doping

Alejandro Valverde has been linked by documentary and DNA evidence to the Operación Puerto, a blood-doping affair which erupted in May 2006 against doctor Eufemiano Fuentes and a number of accomplices. It uncovered doping products, bags of blood and human plasma, and code names that appeared to link top athletes, including up to 60 cyclists, to a highly organized system of doping, which relied heavily on blood transfusions.

Valverde was not initially linked in the investigation, but documents from Madrid's Court 31 linked Valverde to a single bag of human plasma of the 211 total bags of blood and plasma seized in the investigation. The bag of human plasma was labelled with the codes Valv, Piti and 18. In 2007 Valverde was banned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) from competing in the UCI Road World Championships in Stuttgart but Valverde was cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to compete at the championships. Dick Pound, World Anti-Doping Agency president, said the CAS decision did not mean that Valverde was no longer a suspect.

In early 2009 the Italian National Olympic Committee matched DNA samples taken from Valverde during a rest day in Italy of the 2008 Tour de France to plasma seized in the Operación Puerto investigation. At a February 2009 appearance in front of the Olympic Committee, Valverde maintained his innocence and questioned the Italians' jurisdiction over this case. In May 2009, the Italian Olympic Committee suspended him from competition in Italy for 2 years, effectively barring him from the 2009 Tour de France, which detoured briefly onto Italian soil. Valverde filed an unsuccessful appeal against the Italian ban with the Court of Arbitration for Sport; in a second hearing on 18–21 March 2010, the UCI and WADA contested the Spanish Cycling Federation's decision not to open a case against Valverde.

Finally, on 31 May 2010 it was announced the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the appeals from WADA and the UCI and Valverde was banned for two years, starting 1 January 2010, but rejected the request that any results obtained by the athlete prior to the beginning of the suspension be annulled. After serving the two-year suspension Alejandro Valverde returned to competition in 2012 riding for the Movistar Team.

Palmarès

2003

2nd World Cycling Championship Road Race

3rd Overall Vuelta a España

1st Stages 9 and 15

1st Combination classification

1st GP Primavera

1st GP Villafranca de Ordizia

2 stage wins Troféu Joaquim Agostinho

Stage win Tour of the Basque Country

Stage win Vuelta a Aragón

2004

3rd Overall and 1 stage win Vuelta a España

1st Overall and 3 stage wins Vuelta a Burgos

1st Overall and 2 stage wins Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana

1st Overall Vuelta a Murcia

1st Trofeo Cala Millor - Cala Ratjada

3 stage wins Vuelta a Castilla y León

Stage win Tour of the Basque Country

1st GP Primavera

2nd National Road Race Championships

2005

1st Stage 10 Tour de France

1st Stage 8 Paris–Nice

1st Trofeo Manacor

1st Trofeo Soller

1st Stages 3 and 4 Tour of the Basque Country

2nd overall, World Cycling Championships Road Race

2006

1st UCI ProTour

1st La Flèche Wallonne

1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège

1st Stage 2 Vuelta a Murcia

2nd Overall Vuelta a España

1st Stage 7

2nd Overall Tour of the Basque Country

1st Points classification

1st Stage 1

3rd Overall Tour de Romandie

1st Stage 4

3rd World Cycling Championships Road Race

2007

1st Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana

1st Overall Vuelta a Murcia

1st Stage 4

1st Stage 4 Vuelta a Burgos

2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège

2nd La Flèche Wallonne

2nd National Road Race Championships

3rd Overall Critérium International

1st Points classification

6th Overall Tour de France

2008

1st UCI ProTour

1st Overall Vuelta a Murcia

1st Stage 4

1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège

1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

1st Points classification

1st Stages 1 & 3 (ITT)

1st National Road Race Championships

1st Paris–Camembert

1st Clásica de San Sebastián

2nd Klasika Primavera

3rd Amstel Gold Race

5th Overall Vuelta a España

1st Stage 2

9th Overall Tour de France

1st Stages 1 & 6

2009

1st Overall Volta a Catalunya

1st Stage 3

1st Overall Vuelta a Burgos

1st Overall Vuelta a España

1st Combination classification

1st Klasika Primavera

1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

2nd Overall Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid

4th Overall Tour de Romandie

7th La Flèche Wallonne

9th Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León

1st Points classification

1st Mountains Classification

1st Combination Classification

1st Stages 3 & 5

2010

All results were voided from 31 May, because of the suspension backdated to 1 January.

Voided results of Alejandro Valverde

1st Tour Méditerranéen

1st Overall Tour de Romandie

1st Stage 5

2nd Paris–Nice

2nd GP Miguel Indurain

2nd Overall Tour of the Basque Country

1st Stages 1 & 2

1st Points classification

3rd Liège–Bastogne–Liège

8th La Flèche Wallonne

2012

1st Overall Vuelta a Andalucía

1st Stage 2

1st Points classification

1st Combination classification

1st Stage 17 Tour de France

2nd Overall Vuelta a España

1st Stages 1 (TTT), 3 & 8

1st Points classification

1st Combination classification

2nd Overall Tour Down Under

1st Stage 5

3rd World Road Race Championships

3rd Overall Paris–Nice

1st Stage 3

2013

1st Overall Vuelta a Andalucía

1st Points classification

1st Prologue & Stage 3

1st Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana

2nd Giro di Lombardia

2nd Amstel Gold Race

2nd Clásica de San Sebastián

3rd World Road Race Championships

3rd Overall Vuelta a España

1st points classification

3rd Liège–Bastogne–Liège

3rd Vuelta a Murcia

4th GP Miguel Indurain

6th Milano–Torino

7th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné

7th La Flèche Wallonne

8th Overall Tour de France

9th Overall Tour de Romandie

2014

1st Overall UCI World Tour

1st National Time Trial Championships

1st Overall Vuelta a Andalucía

1st Points classification

1st Combination classification

1st Prologue, Stages 1 & 2

1st Vuelta a Murcia

1st Roma Maxima

1st GP Miguel Indurain

1st La Flèche Wallonne

1st Clásica de San Sebastián

2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège

2nd Giro di Lombardia

3rd World Road Race Championships

3rd Strade Bianche

3rd Overall Vuelta a España

1st Stages 1 (TTT) & 6

Held after Stages 2, 6–8

Held after Stage 15

Held after Stages 6–17

4th Amstel Gold Race

4th Overall Tour de France

5th Overall Tour of the Basque Country

2015

1st Overall UCI World Tour

1st National Road Race Championships

1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège

1st La Flèche Wallonne

1st Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana

2nd Trofeo Andratx-Mirador d'es Colomer

2nd Overall Volta a Catalunya

1st Stages 2, 5 & 7

2nd Amstel Gold Race

3rd Overall Tour de France

1st Team classification

3rd Overall Tour of Oman

3rd Clásica de San Sebastián

3rd Strade Bianche

4th Giro di Lombardia

4th Overall Dubai Tour

5th World Road Race Championships

5th GP Miguel Indurain

6th Vuelta a La Rioja

7th Overall Vuelta a España

1st Stage 4

1st Points classification

1st Team classification

7th Overall Abu Dhabi Tour

9th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné

2016

1st Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León

1st Combination classification

1st Points classification

1st Stages 2 & 3

1st Overall Vuelta a Andalucía

1st Stage 5

1st La Flèche Wallonne

3rd Overall Giro d'Italia

1st Stage 16

2nd Vuelta a Murcia

5th Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana

8th Trofeo Pollenca-Port de Andratx

10th Strade Bianche

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Giro	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	3
Tour	—	—	—	WD	WD	5	9	—	—	—	20	8	4	3
Vuelta	WD	3	4	—	2	—	5	1	—	—	2	3	3	7

WD = Withdrew; In Progress = IP

Classics results

This table shows Valverde's classics/one-day race results.

Year	Strade Bianche	Milan–San Remo	Amstel Gold Race	La Flèche Wallonne	Liège–Bastogne–Liège	Clásica de San Sebastián	UCI Road World Championships	Giro di Lombardia	Paris–Tours
2003		54th					2nd	39th
2004						61st	6th
2005		33rd	13th	40th	34th	8th	2nd	12th	20th
2006		24th	23rd	1st	1st	8th	3rd	DNF
2007			7th	2nd	2nd	3rd	57th		59th
2008			3rd	21st	1st	1st	37th
2009			21st	7th	19th	17th	9th
2012			22nd	46th	DNQ	26th	3rd
2013	13th		2nd	7th	3rd	2nd	3rd	2nd
2014	3rd		4th	1st	2nd	1st	3rd	2nd
2015	3rd	20th	2nd	1st	1st	3rd	5th	4th
2016	10th	15th		1st	15th

External links

• Caisse d'Epargne's Official Website profile (French)
• Alejandro Valverde profile at ProCyclingStats
• Alejandro Valverde at Cycling Archives

Sporting positions
Preceded by Joaquim Rodríguez	Spanish Road Race Champion 2008	Succeeded by Rubén Plaza
Preceded by Danilo Di Luca	La Flèche Wallonne 2006	Succeeded by Davide Rebellin
Preceded by Alexander Vinokourov	Liège–Bastogne–Liège 2006	Succeeded by Danilo Di Luca
Preceded by Danilo Di Luca	Liège–Bastogne–Liège 2008	Succeeded by Andy Schleck