The Green Bullet The rise fall and resurrection of Alejandro Valverde and Spanish cycling’s corruption

<p><b><i>*Shortlisted for Cycling Book of the Year at the Sports Book Awards 2024*</i></b><br><br><b>From award-winning author Matt Rendell, an examination of the phenomenal success of Alejandro Valverde and the moral decay at the heart of Spanish cycling.</b><br><br>''A study of a dominant force, a true gentleman racer despite his shadowy past'' <b>Dan Martin</b><br><br>Alejandro Valverde - the ''Green Bullet'' - was an international symbol of Spanish cycling for a quarter of a century before his retirement in 2022. Hard-working and supremely talented, he won the Vuelta a España and stood on the podium of the Giro d''Italia and the Tour de France. World champion in 2018, he was also the world''s number-one-ranked rider four times. A man of indisputable charisma, he was also a convicted doping cheat.<br><br>When the Spanish police investigation, Operación Puerto, uncovered a vast international blood doping ring, Valverde denied all involvement. The revelations unearthed by Operación Puerto threatened to force cycling off the road.<br><br>Valverde''s long career was a high wire walk between the venal interests that surround elite sport in Spain. In a nation beset by corruption, political incompetence and social division, Valverde''s talent aided the public image of unscrupulous political and economic institutions.<br><br>Even today, Valverde maintains his reticence. <b><i>The Green Bullet</i> breaks the silence.</b></p>