Alejandro Valverde will do ten one-day races before the Giro d'Italia. The Tirreno-Adriatico is the only stage race on his schedule but he doesn't rule out doing one in February too.
The Movistar leader confirmed his calendar to BiciCiclismo yesterday afternoon at his hotel in Mallorca. He will first do three races at the Mallorca Challenge, the last three days; in February, he will ride the Vuelta a Murcia and the Clasica Almeria. The new informations is that "we are thinking of doing a stage race", the Volta a Valenciana which "I am talking to Eusebio (Unzue) about" he says. The other alternative is the Vuelta a Andalucia.
In March, he will have a busy month with Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo in Italy and the cobbled classics Dwaars door Vlaanderen and E3 Harelbeke.
Finally, in April he will line up for the Tour of Flanders for the first time before tackling Amstel Gold Race, Fleche-Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, "four days" to have "a certain freshness" for the Giro d'Italia. That means 20 days of competition, without Valencia and Andalusia.
Between the Giro and the Tour de France, he will ride his national championships where he won the road race in 2015 and the time trial in 2014. After reaching Paris, it will be time for the Clasica San Sebastian which he won in 2008 and 2014.
The road race at the Olympic Games will be his main goal in the second half of the seasos. Finally, he may do a grand tour treble as he hasn't ruled the Vuelta a Espana out.
Calendar:
Challenge de Mallorca (January 29-31), Volta a Valenciana (February 3-7)?, Clasica de Almería (February 13), Vuelta a Murcia (February 14), Vuelta a Andalucia (February 17-21)?, Strade Bianche (March 5), Tirreno-Adriatico (March 9-15), Milan-San Remo (March 19), Dwars door Vlaanderen (March 23), E3 Harelbeke (March 25), Tour of Flanders (April 3), Amstel Gold Race (April 17), Fleche Wallonne (April 20), Liege-Bastogne-Liege (April 24), Giro d'Italia (May 6-29), Spanish Championships, Tour de France (July 2-24), Clasica San Sebastian (July 30), Olympic Games (August 6) and Vuelta a Espana (August 20-September 11)
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