Alejandro Valverde will be confident at the start of the Gravel World Championship on Sunday (October 8). The 43-year-old Spaniard’s professional career ended nearly a year ago, but the “Bala” hasn’t been idle in recent months. “I’ve been training throughout 2023, with the Gravel World Championship as a major goal in mind,” he said in a statement from the event’s organizers.
The race will take place in the Veneto region of Italy.
“I’ll be in the region in the coming days to explore the course. I’ve already studied the route a bit, but I want to know every turn. I know it won’t be easy against some of the best riders in the world, but I can say one thing for sure: it won’t be easy for them to beat me either.”
Valverde only has victories in Gravel.
Last year, Valverde participated in two Spanish races in the UCI Gravel World Series. He won La Indomable and the Hutchinson Ranxo Gravel with a strong display of power. In the latter race, his former teammate at Movistar, Iván García Cortina, finished second, more than two minutes behind Valverde.
“When I stopped being a professional cyclist, it became clear to me that I wanted to explore the world of gravel. It was something completely new, but it gave me the opportunity to keep my competitive spirit alive,” he said. In the World Championship, Valverde will compete against Wout van Aert, Florian Vermeersch, and the current champion Gianni Vermeersch, among others.