Alejandro Valverde to hang bike at the end of 2022
Oct 28 2021 12:10 am CET
Movistar Team logo
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) has announced that his retirement from professional cycling is set for the end of 2022.
The former World Champion gave the news to the Spanish radio show Radiogaceta of RNE. He confirmed that 2022 is going to be his "last year as a rider. Even if I feel good during the season, it doesn't make any sense to keep adjourning my retirement because I prefer to stop while I'm still at a good level."
Valverde -who will be 42 on April 2022- has an impressive palmares that includes four victories in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, five in La Fleche Wallonne and twelve stage wins in the Vuelta a España -where he also topped the overall classification in 2009. The Spaniard also won the World Championships in 2018 and took the overall victories of the Volta a Catalunya, the Criterium du Dauphine and the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, among others.
"I have in mind some things for the upcoming season. It is certain that I won't ride the Tour de France but, if everything allows it, I will be at the Vuelta a España. And about the rest, I will have to see if I ride the Giro d'Italia, the classics and the national calendar.
"When I retire, for now I still have two more years of contract to stay in the structure of Movistar team. I will try to help in everything possible, to help the young riders above all, something that I really like."
Valverde was banned from competition for two years in 2010 as part of the Operación Puerto doping investigation, and returned to the road with Movistar in 2012.
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS FEEDS