Alejandro Valverde Belmonte

2018 World Champion Alejandro Valverde, born April 25, 1990 in Las Lumbreras, Spain, turned professional in 2002 with Spanish squad Kelme-Costa Blanca and claimed his first of 133 career victories the following season, a stage in the Vuelta al País Vasco, now known as the Itzulia-Basque Country. 

In a career that spanned over 20 years, Valverde took a record-breaking five wins in La Flèche Wallonne, four victories in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège Monument, two victories in the Clásica San Sebastián and a World Road Championships win in 2018. 

Valverde also shone in stage races, claiming the outright victory in the Vuelta a España in 2009 and amassing twelve stage wins in his home Grand Tour during his career. Valverde finished on the podium of all three Grand Tours, as well as taking four stage wins in the Tour de France and one in the Giro d'Italia. Week-long stage race triumphs included the Critérium du Dauphiné, Volta a Catalunya and Vuelta al País Vasco as well as a wealth of minor multi-day events, mostly in Spain.

Having joined Iles Balears-Caisse d'Epargne in 2005, Valverde remained with the same team, under different sponsorships, until he retired at the end of 2022. A prolific winner, his career was also marked by his involvement in the Operación Puerto anti-doping investigation, which led to a two-year sanction which ended on January 1st, 2012.

Key results

Winner of 2018 World Road Championships

Winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège: 2006, 2008, 2015, 2017

Winner of Vuelta a España: 2009

Winner of la Flèche Wallonne: 2006, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017

Winner of Critérium du Dauphiné: 2008, 2009

Winner of Volta a Catalunya: 2009, 2017, 2018

Winner of 12 stages in Vuelta a España, four stages in Tour de France, one stage in Giro d'Italia

Winner of Vuelta al País Vasco (La Itzulia-Basque Country)

Winner of Clásica San Sebastián: 2008, 2014