Ultra-veteran Valverde pulls down curtain on Vuelta a España

MADRID, SPAIN - SEPTEMBER 11: Alejandro Valverde Belmonte of Spain and Movistar Team celebrates with his teammates tribute to his farewell to the professional cycling on the podium ceremony and in the Plaza Cibeles with the Palacio de Cibeles - Ayuntamiento de Madrid in the background after the 77th Tour of Spain 2022, Stage 21 a 96,7km stage from Las Rozas to Madrid / #LaVuelta22 / #WorldTour / on September 11, 2022 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Valverde with his Movistar teammates in Madrid (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images))

While Remco Evenepoel soaked up the applause as champion in his first ever Vuelta a España this Sunday in Madrid, one Spanish rider who has been an integral part of the same event for two decades was also celebrating what was his final participation.

Twenty years older than Evenepoel, on Sunday Alejandro Valverde received multiple tributes in what is his 16th-ever Vuelta, and his last before retiring at the end of the season.

Alasdair Fotheringham

Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The IndependentThe GuardianProCycling, The Express and Reuters.