Rider Profile
Alejandro Valverde Belmonte
Movistar Team
Personal Details:
Teams history:
- 2022 - Movistar Team
- 2021 - Movistar Team
- 2020 - Movistar Team
- 2019 - Movistar Team
- 2018 - Movistar Team
- 2017 - Movistar Team
- 2016 - Movistar Team
- 2015 - Movistar Team
- 2014 - Movistar Team
- 2013 - Movistar Team
- 2012 - Movistar Team
- 2010 - Caisse d'Epargne
- 2009 - Caisse d'Epargne
- 2008 - Caisse d'Epargne
- 2007 - Caisse d'Epargne
- 2006 - Caisse d'Epargne - Illes Balears
- 2005 - Illes Balears - Caisse d'Epargne
- 2004 - Comunidad Valenciana - Kelme
- 2003 - Kelme - Costa Blanca
- 2002 - Kelme - Costa Blanca
Biography:
2018 World Champion Alejandro Valverde, born April 25, 1990 in Las Lumbreras, Spain, turned professional in 2002 with Spanish squad Kelme-Costa Blanca and claimed his first of 133 career victories the following season, a stage in the Vuelta al País Vasco, now known as the Itzulia-Basque Country.
In a career that spanned over 20 years, Valverde took a record-breaking five wins in La Flèche Wallonne, four victories in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège Monument, two victories in the Clásica San Sebastián and a World Road Championships win in 2018.
Valverde also shone in stage races, claiming the outright victory in the Vuelta a España in 2009 and amassing twelve stage wins in his home Grand Tour during his career. Valverde finished on the podium of all three Grand Tours, as well as taking four stage wins in the Tour de France and one in the Giro d'Italia. Week-long stage race triumphs included the Critérium du Dauphiné, Volta a Catalunya and Vuelta al País Vasco as well as a wealth of minor multi-day events, mostly in Spain.
Having joined Iles Balears-Caisse d'Epargne in 2005, Valverde remained with the same team, under different sponsorships, until he retired at the end of 2022. A prolific winner, his career was also marked by his involvement in the Operación Puerto anti-doping investigation, which led to a two-year sanction which ended on January 1st, 2012.
Key results
Winner of 2018 World Road Championships
Winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège: 2006, 2008, 2015, 2017
Winner of Vuelta a España: 2009
Winner of la Flèche Wallonne: 2006, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Winner of Critérium du Dauphiné: 2008, 2009
Winner of Volta a Catalunya: 2009, 2017, 2018
Winner of 12 stages in Vuelta a España, four stages in Tour de France, one stage in Giro d'Italia
Winner of Vuelta al País Vasco (La Itzulia-Basque Country)
Winner of Clásica San Sebastián: 2008, 2014
Related Articles
Valverde rolls back the years in Vallter 2000 summit finish
By Alasdair Fotheringham published
News Spaniard takes third behind Adam Yates, Chaves in Volta a Catalunya stage
Chris Froome, Peter Sagan and Richard Carapaz headline Volta a Catalunya
By Alasdair Fotheringham published
Preview Stellar field face first flat time trial since 1998, tough new ascent to Montjuic
Valverde re-opens possibility of adding extra year to career
By Alasdair Fotheringham published
News Former world champion mulls over 21st pro season
Unzué denies Movistar under greater pressure for results in 2021
By Alasdair Fotheringham published
News Valverde eyes Olympics as López and Mas target Tour de France, Soler the Giro, and all four hit the Vuelta
2021 Team Preview: Movistar
By Patrick Fletcher published
Analysis Spanish team seek to turn things around after dismal 2020
10 riders with a point to prove in 2021
By Daniel Benson published
Feature Key season on the cards for the likes of Froome, Viviani and Bernal
Alejandro Valverde roars back in action at Vuelta a España
By Alasdair Fotheringham published
News Spanish veteran in key long-distance break of day
Valverde: We have to race the Vuelta a España like a series of Classics
By Alasdair Fotheringham published
News Movistar leader warns 'this can be lost from day one'
Blogs
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'Untapped gold' in store for inaugural RADL GRVL in South Australia
Nathan Haas calls gravel course 'raw, fast, exciting' after pre-ride with co-founder Valtteri Bottas -
UCI Gravel Worlds - new course, same criticisms cast doubt on event
Nathan Haas hears feedback from fellow riders on course elevation being 'selective without being stupid' -
Nathan Haas blog: We need to talk about the Unbound mud pit
Was it wrong to not re-route the course? -
Ellen van Dijk - Leading by example
'I have the chance to show the world how normal it should be to perform at a top level as a mother' -
Rukhsar Habibzai - The day I left home
'It is a story shared by thousands of Afghans. It is the day we left home, left our souls and left Afghanistan'