How close was Alejandro Valverde to return to pro cycling in 2023? "If Eusebio had offered me to continue for a year, I would have accepted"

Alejandro Valvede retired from pro cycling at the end of the 2022 season but his desire to keep racing did not end there. 'Bala' admits in a recent interview that he was only one question away from returning to the peloton in 2023.

“I no longer miss starting a race, but at the beginning I do. At the moment I feel like a cyclist, but not a professional cyclist. I go out to train to feel good and if necessary I do some gravel races, but I've already seen that, for example, when I see the group leaving, I no longer feel anything special," Valverde admitted in words to EFE.

Valverde had admitted so last year, and he kept riding with the Spanish team as if he were a pro rider. Indeed, he continues to do so until this day, and he reveals more details on his thinking last season in the months after his retirement: “It's always difficult to stop, any professional will admit it. Those who leave cycling have had the doubt of saying 'I'll come back or I won't come back', but then the idea passes. It happened to me too."

"I called Eusebio (Unzué, Movistar manager, ed.) and asked him if there was the possibility of continuing. He told me that I no longer needed to compete, that I no longer had anything to gain. Between the months of March and May 2023 I was determined to put my back on, but by the end of the year I was no longer determined. I think that if Eusebio had offered me to continue for a year, I would have accepted."

Valverde keeps on racing in Gravel and Mountain Biking events, even with strong results among current pros. However he senses that he has accepted the situation now and does no longer feel the need to race in the World Tour peloton. “You can live without a bicycle, of course, but I live much better with a bicycle. I'm sure I would feel lost without it. I feel better and I enjoy the bike much more than before."

"When you compete you always have extra pressure or an extra goal. Those who are behind you want you to win, there is a lot of responsibility, and that means you have to rest a lot, take care of yourself, eat well… In the end you neglect your family a little more, and now I'm having fun much more than before," he concludes, a happy ending to a story that had many twists and turns throughout the past year.