World No. 1 Alejandro Valverde ends 2018 season with 11th at Il Lombardia
13 October 2018

Bala wraps up a wonderful year

World Champion from Movistar Team struggles into final climbs of 'Falling Leaves' classic, finishes just outside top-ten to seal his UCI World Ranking lead for remainder of this year.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) closed an unforgettable 2018 season for him, back from a near career-ending crash at last year’s Tour de France, confirming his first place in the UCI World Ranking, the classification taking all pro events into account and only valid standing as of 2019 -the UCI WorldTour ranking set to disappear after this season-.

‘Bala’, wearing for the first time a full set of equipment + bike representative of his world title, took 11th place at Il Lombardia, the last of the five Monument classics, held on Saturday over 241km at unexpectedly fast pace from Bergamo to Como. The marvel from Murcia, part of the favourites’ group until the trascendental Muro di Sormano, went down to a second echelon of favourites with 50km to go after a furious attack from Thibaut Pinot (GFC, 1st) and Vincenzo Nibali (TBM, 2nd), who stayed away until the end with intermittent collaboration from Primoz Roglic (TLJ) and Egan Bernal (SKY).

The penultimate climb, Civiglio, was a massive obstacle for Valverde, who was dropped from the first pursuit group and had to stay content with a result just outside the top ten, 1’31” behind the winner. An otherwise fine result to wrap up a consistent, spectacular season, crowned with the biggest success of his career at a beautiful afternoon in Innsbruck.

REACTION:

Alejandro Valverde: “I felt the tiredness of this long season a bit today. I didn’t really feel bad, and was able to stay close to the top contenders all day, struggling but fighting into those final climbs. However, you’ve got to be honest: there were some of the best in the world in this race, and they might have come to this race in better condition. Disappointed about not winning? Not at all – not if you consider how I’ve fared this season. I’d be sad if I wasn’t able to stay on the bike and had to DNF, but I had on my mind this was one of today’s likely scenarios. I can only be satisfied about my 2018 season and this rainbow jersey on my chest.”

Picture (c): BettiniPhoto.net