Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) is making his debut at this year's Giro d'Italia and the 36-year-old is thus opening himself to a wealth of new experiences. It remains to be seen how Valverde will fare on desolate slopes of the Dolomites, or how he will cope with the final throes of an Alpine spring, but on Wednesday during stage 11, the veteran showed that he is already well-versed in dealing with another Giro staple, the post-stage polemica.
Valverde jumped promptly across to Vincenzo Nibali's wheel with Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) when he accelerated on the descent of the day's final categorised climb, the Forcella Mostacin, but stoked the irritation of the Astana rider by taking only a token turn on the front before their move – which only never gained more than a handful of seconds – was pegged back shortly afterwards.
On crossing the line in Asolo, Valverde was flagged down by an Italian television crew. The region is something of a pastry-making centre, but sugar-coating was in short supply. "Why didn't you collaborate with Nibali today?" he was asked sharply.
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Valverde didn't hesitate before meeting brusqueness with brusqueness: "What race were you watching?" Still gently freewheeling towards his team bus, Valverde continued: "In what way did I not work with him? At all times, I worked with him."
In the RAI television studio afterwards, Nibali's exasperated flick of the elbow with 13 kilometres remaining was replayed in slow motion, and the whys and wherefores of Valverde's apparent lack of cooperation were parsed and analysed in minute detail.
By then sitting on the steps of the Movistar bus after showering and changing, Valverde appeared nonplussed by the brewing polemic. "Nibali attacked on the descent and I went after him," he told reporters. "Of course, he had a gap on me of a few metres. When I caught him, I had to catch my breath, but then I worked at all times. He does his race and I do mine."
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