Valverde loses out to huskies in Valencia

Alejandro Valverde (Spain)

Alejandro Valverde (Spain) (Image credit: Sirotti)

With all due respect to the riders at the Franco-Belge and the cyclo-cross stars taking part in the first round of the World Cup in Treviso, the big match-up of the weekend pitted Vuelta champion Alejandro Valverde against a six-dog sled team under the direction of champion "musher' Ismael Piñol. The result? A convincing victory for the canine sextet, who reached a speed of 60kph along the main straight on the course laid out for the traditional October criterium in Valencia.

Peter Cossins has written about professional cycling since 1993 and is a contributing editor to Procycling. He is the author of The Monuments: The Grit and the Glory of Cycling's Greatest One-Day Races (Bloomsbury, March 2014) and has translated Christophe Bassons' autobiography, A Clean Break (Bloomsbury, July 2014). 

twitter.com/petercossins