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Valverde to skip Milan-San Remo

By Cycling News

published 19 March 2014

Rojas to replace him as team leader

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Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) wins Roma Maxima 2014(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

For the fifth time in his career Alejandro Valverde won a medal in the elite men's road race world championship, but he's yet to claim a rainbow jersey(Image credit: Sirotti)

José Joaquin Rojas strikes a pose as he waits for training(Image credit: Sirotti)

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) wins for the third day in a row(Image credit: Alberto Brevers)

Movistar have announced a Milan-San Remo roster that doesn't include the in-form Alejandro Valverde.

Rojas abandons Tour Down Under with broken scaphoid

Valverde begins his 2014 season in Dubai

Valverde wins Roma Maxima

Further Milan-San Remo changes likely due to landslides

With the parcours now favouring the sprinters, after the removal of the Pompeiana due to safety concerns, the Spaniard has decided to skip the first monument of the season.

Replacing Valverde as the team’s leader at San Remo will be José Joaquin Rojas. The sprinter has just finished Paris-Nice, where he was climbing very well and finished fourth overall. Rojas' best performance at San Remo is 14th at the 2011 edition. The Spanish outfit have another sprinting option in former national champion Francisco Ventoso, who finished 11th last season.

Movistar team for Milan-San Remo: José Joaquín Rojas, Fran Ventoso, Andrey Amador, Dayer Quintana, Juanjo Lobato, Adriano Malori, Jasha Sütterlin and Enrique Sanz.

Valverde will be racing this weekend at the GP Nobili on Saturday. Valverde has had a great start to the season with six victories to his name already, including winning the Vuelta a Andalucía for the third year running and an impressive victory at Roma Maxima earlier this month.

He will be joined in Novara by a number of riders from the San Remo team.

Movistar team for GP Nobili: Alejandro Valverde, Francisco Ventoso, Juan Jose Lobato, Sylwester Szmyd, Andrey Amador, Dayer Quintana, Enrique Sanz and Jasha Sütterlin.