Love Him or Hate Him, Alejandro Valverde Was One of the Best Male Riders of the Post-Armstrong Era

Alejandro Valverde's involvement with the Operacion Puerto doping ring makes him a controversial figure, but, at least on paper, Valverde was pro cycling's best male rider over the past decade

Programming Note: In order to mark the recent retirement of the 42-year-old Alejandro Valverde at the conclusion of the 2022 season (as well as a trans-Atlantic travel day throwing a wrench in this week’s BTP production schedule), I’m running an old pre-BTP piece that I, along with my The Outer Line colleague Steve Maxwell, created in an effort to put t…