Alejandro Valverde to race 2023 Gravel World Championships - Wout van Aert and many World Tour riders have new competition
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Despite retiring from road cycling after Il Lombardia 2022, and as he always proved during his professional road cycling career, Alejandro Valverde is an insatiable rider. Throughout 2023, the Spaniard has been training very hard to face the next big goal of his life, the World Gravel Tour of Italy.
This has been advanced by the colleagues of AS. Valverde wants to be part of the lineup for the next World Gravel World Championships to be held in October. So far, the preparation behind him is more than positive, as he himself has confirmed in his most recent statements.
"I'm still adapting to this discipline," said Alejandro Valverde. "The truth is that at the beginning it cost me a lot, but with time I've been gaining confidence and I'm doing better. I train the same way, and if one day I wake up and I want to push myself to the limit, I do it. In July I reached 20,000 kilometers of training alone in 2023".
Valverde earned his ticket to the World Championships, which will be held in a month and a half, on October 7, after winning the two UCI races he contested on Spanish soil this year. "The World Championships are there, participating is the idea. I'm still training on the road bike, that's for sure. When there is a little more than a week before the competition is when I change bikes," Valverde concludes about his preparation for the World Championships.
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The first edition of the World Gravel Championships was held in 2022. There, the champion's title went to Gianni Vermeesch, after finishing a very long breakaway of 140 kilometers, and where Mathieu van der Poel was third.
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Juan LarraCycling Journalist
Juan Larra is a writer for Cyclinguptodate and editor-in-chief of Ciclismoaldia, where he has played a central role since its inception. Under his leadership, the website has become a trusted source for professional cycling coverage, offering in-depth analysis, news, and feature stories.
A sports journalist with over 20 years of experience, Juan earned his degree in Journalism from the University of Seville in 2007. He began his career covering a wide range of sports—including football, basketball, Formula 1, MotoGP, tennis, and cycling—for platforms such as the official La Liga app, Vodafone and Movistar websites, NBA Blogdebasket, and Cadena Cope, honing his skills in writing and editorial management.
In addition to his work at Ciclismoaldia, Juan contributes to Cyclinguptodate and serves as editor-in-chief for the tennis-focused site Tenisaldia. Throughout his career, he has conducted exclusive interviews with cyclists and sports figures, provided detailed analysis of competitions ranging from local Spanish races to major international events, and acted as a special correspondent at prestigious races including Paris-Roubaix, the Tour de France, and the Vuelta a España.
Juan’s combination of experience, expertise, and direct access to athletes has established him—and the platforms he leads—as authoritative voices in professional cycling.
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- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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🇪🇦🎉 Felicidades, campeonas. Gracias por hacer vibrar a todo el país y conseguir un triunfo histórico.
⭐️ ¡¡𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗢𝗦 𝗖𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗘𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗦 𝗗𝗘𝗟 𝗠𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗢!! 🏆 ¡¡LO HEMOS LOGRADO!! 🥹 No sabéis lo que esto significa realmente. 🫶 ¡¡HISTORIA DEL FÚTBOL ESPAÑOL!! Lᴏs sᴜᴇɴ̃ᴏs sᴇ ᴄᴜᴍᴘʟᴇɴ... ❤️ 🆚 #ESP - #ENG I 1-0 #JugarLucharYGanar I #FIFAWWC I #CampeonasDelMundo
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