Alejandro Valverde

Spanish cyclist and 2018 World Road Race Champion, one of the most prolific and versatile riders in cycling history with 133 career victories including a record five wins at La Flèche Wallonne.

Born on 25 April 1980 in Las Lumbreras, Murcia, Alejandro Valverde turned professional in 2002 with Kelme-Costa Blanca and won his first career victory the following year. He spent the bulk of his 21-year career with the Movistar Team, becoming one of the most versatile and prolific riders in the sport's history. Valverde's palmarès across one-day races is exceptional: he won a record five editions of La Flèche Wallonne (2006, 2014-2017) and four editions of Liège-Bastogne-Liège (2006, 2008, 2015, 2017), becoming a four-time Monument winner. He also won the Vuelta a España overall title in 2009, along with the Critérium du Dauphiné twice and the Volta a Catalunya three times. His career was interrupted by a doping suspension from 2010 to 2012 following his implication in the Operación Puerto blood-doping case, though he returned to competition as strong as before, winning the majority of his Ardennes Classics titles after his ban. In 2018, at age 38, Valverde finally captured the World Road Race Championship in Innsbruck, a title that had eluded him despite seven previous World Championship medals across 15 years. Valverde retired in 2022 with 133 professional victories, the most of any Spanish cyclist in history, before continuing to compete in gravel racing events into his forties.

Versatile puncheur excelling in hilly classics, Grand Tours and time trials alike

The most prolific winner in Spanish cycling history and one of the sport's most versatile all-rounders