Valverde eyes Giro and Olympic double
Four-time Fleche Wallonne winner Alejandro Valverde has his sights set on a historic double in 2016.
Alejandro Valverde believes his early season form can help propel him to Giro d'Italia and Olympic glory in 2016.
Speaking after claiming a record fourth Fleche Wallonne title – and third in a row – the Movistar rider was pleased with the energy he had remaining in his legs after the 196-kilometre one-day race.
Having watched closely from the peloton for much of the race, Valverde made his move in the final kilometre and held off Joaquim Rodriguez and Dan Martin to claim the win atop Mur de Huy.
The Spaniard – who has also won the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon and Vuelta a Andalucia in 2016 – may race Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday, but much will depend on the conditions, and he is not prepared to risk anything with a busy couple of months ahead.
"If it [Sunday's weather] is really bad, I'll see what I have to sacrifice, I won't want to take a chance on the Giro," he said.
"I am going to try and win it [the Giro]. The rivals will be very hard, [Vincenzo] Nibali will be very strong, [Mikel] Landa will be strong, but that's the idea."
Valverde also confirmed he would be at the Tour de France, but only in a support role for team-mate Nairo Quintana.
He said: "I'm not going for the overall classification, I won't be stressed about losing time in the first week, if I have to lose time I will. I am only [going] with the idea of helping Nairo to win it.
"Then I'll head onto the Games, where the route suits me very well. The Games will be the big objective, even if with just five riders in a team, it's always a bit of a lottery."