Alejandro Valverde - 'Spanish cycling in a period of transition'

“Maybe not as many competitions are being won as before, but I believe that is also due to generational changes. There are better times, worse times, and now we are in a time that is a bit of transition, in which sooner or later the victories and successes will come,” said the 2009 Vuelta a España winner, now 45 years old.

The numbers back up his words. Spanish men’s cycling peaked at 100 victories in 2010 and 95 in 2015. Since then, the decline has been steady: 59 wins in 2019, followed by just 17 in the disrupted 2020 season. In the last five years, the total has hovered between 30 and 40.

Valverde insisted that the lack of victories is the result of generational change, not of talent. “There are better times, worse times, and now we are in one that is of transition, in which sooner or later the victories and successes will come.”

He also pointed to how the sport has changed since his early years in the peloton. “The problem is that before there were 200 riders, and of them 20 were super well prepared with the nutrition, with the preparation, so between those 20 and the other 180 there was a huge difference. Now everything has become technical, nutrition has improved, the bikes, the altitude camps, everything. So the difference between the first and the 200th is minimal.”

In that sense, Valverde highlighted the rare exceptions. “Riders like Tadej Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert are above the rest of the world peloton, the difference between the others is minimal.”

On Sunday, Valverde will leave his role as national coach behind to ride again, much to the misfortune of the rest of the field lining up.

Source: Pro Cycling Stats