Alejandro Valverde

The squad's exit leaves just two professional teams from Spain in the peloton

The Italian missed the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France this year

From Alberto Contador’s determination to BMC Racing’s disappointment, Matthew Beaudin relays his Tour takeaways

A number of riders that finished the Tour de France will line up for Saturday's one-day classic in Spain

The 28-year-old's Tour victory, combined with the top performances of other 20-somethings, confirmed there is a new breed of racers

Contador, Rodriguez, and Valverde are hitting top form as the Tour heads into the high mountains

Alejandro Valverde lost big time aboard this EPS-equipped Pinarello race machine on Friday after suffering a poorly timed broken wheel

Manxman delivers the stage win after the GC contenders take the race to Sky and make big gains in the overall

The time is near for Chris Froome's rivals to start racing against each other for the podium and he can take advantage

American rider finished 12th in the race against the clock, which bodes well for the stage 17 time trial

German rider starts his day well before the GC riders and takes the early lead

Chris Froome's rivals, however, look to the upcoming mountain stages to make up time on him

Valverde and Contador are poised to make a move this weekend in the Tour's first mountain test

Thirty-five riders are in the Best Young Rider competition entering Saturday's Tour start in Corsica

Movistar rider thinks he can ride his way onto the podium in Paris

Squad will also include recent Tour de Suisse winner Rui Costa

Is the lieutenant stronger than the captain? We'll see when Suisse champ Costa and Valverde tackle the Tour together

Chris Froome and Alberto Contador are the two favorites at the eight-day Criterium du Dauphine, which has a mountainous route throughout

After steamrolling through the first part of 2013, Chris Froome appears to be the man to beat at the Tour

A 10-mile climb on his way home from school every day helped lay Quintana's foundation on the bike

Fabian Cancellara and a slew of first-time winners came out on top in the classics, but who didn't?

Ardennes rookie Nairo Quintana and Rui Costa will support the Spanish veteran as he chases a third Liège–Bastogne–Liège title

On Sunday, 200 men will start the final classic of the spring, but these 11 favorites will be the riders to watch at "La Doyenne"

Spanish team has one of the deepest squads entering the trio of races, starting with Sunday's Amstel Gold Race

Movistar teammates check out multiple climbs that will be featured early in the Tour

Spaniard and teammate Capecchi walk away from Catalunya without serious injury

Movistar rider goes down with a teammate on a tricky descent. Both abandon the seven-day race

Movistar's young Colombian climber, and Alejandro Valverde's roommate, is aiming for his Tour debut after a Catalunya stage win

Rui Costa says there's no limit to his potential, saying he's "a complete rider." He'll ride in Paris-Nice starting Sunday

Spaniard goes wire-to-wire in Andalucía, bookending the four-day race with two stage wins

Frenchman goes two-in-a-row in Andalusia

Spaniard resets for what may be one last assault on the yellow jersey at the Tour

Frenchman tops the GC favorites in Andalucía

It was Valverde's second win of the season, following a victory February 5 in the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana

Spaniard tops four-up sprint after late breakaway with Henao, Gesink and Costa

Spaniard will focus on the Basque Country tour and hopes to deliver a podium in France in July

Where does Joaquim Rodriguez's win at Lombardia rank him among Spain's classics men?

Movistar captain goes down with illness and will miss his shot a revenge on Philippe Gilbert in Italy

Valverde saves Spanish pride, but Freire unhappy with teammates in final race

Belgian king of the Ardennes erases his disappointing classics campaign with a fierce move to close the Limburg worlds

With Rodríguez, Valverde, Contador, Freire and Sánchez, will a wealth of options benefit the Spanish or destroy their chances in Limburg?

Victory on Sunday will reconfirm El Pistolero's place as his generation's king of the grand tours

Rodríguez distances Contador, but the Vuelta GC race is still too close for comfort with two uphill finishes remaining

Valverde proves the big winner on the day while Froome slips off the podium and perhaps out of the hunt

Three straight summit finales should clarify GC picture at the Vuelta

Rodríguez wins again to put scare into rivals, but can he hold on at the Vuelta as the big mountains approach

Only one minute divides the leading four and Contador is the man to beat after Wednesday’s test against the clock

The big four face a tactics-changing test against the clock in Spain on Wednesday

The 67th Tour of Spain is nine days old and one thing is for certain: Nothing is for certain

The Movistar rider roared up from behind on the final climb to win stage 8 in Andorra

Valverde blames Sky for causing the crash, but director Nicolas Portal won't take the rap

Alejandro Valverde takes the stage and the jersey, but Alberto Contador shows he's out for blood

Contador heads the list of contenders for the Spanish tour, but it's a long list, with a number of subplots

Defending champ to take up Movistar's charge into the Vuelta with Valverde hunting stages

Before he could ride for the win, the Movistar rider had to persuade danger-man Vincenzo Nibali to drop out of a break

Valverde takes stylish win at Peyragudes and Wiggins puts Nibali to rest in the Pyrenees

Freire KO’d for Olympics; Sánchez, Rojas waiting to see as Spanish media turns attention to Contador's Vuelta return

Movistar's Spaniard is no time trialist, but hopes to take advantage in other stages

Tech editor Nick Legan answers reader questions on front vs. rear flats, cramps and more

The “Green Bullet” is back in France and hoping he’s on the upswing in an up-and-down comeback season

From Evans to Sanchez, Wiggins to Menchov, we run down the favorites for the 2012 Tour de France

Gesink and Valverde are among the Tour hopefuls taking aim at top form in Switzerland starting Saturday

Valverde, Cobo set to lead Spanish squad in July after two-week training camp

Several Tour de France favorites including Evans spent the week putting in recon miles on the upcoming Tour’s course

Iglinsky closes Ardennes week with another Astana surprise. Where were the favorites? Piecing together ideas for salvaging their seasons, perhaps

Movistar captain follows motorcycles off-course after La Redoute climb

Some say the Movistar Spaniard set a trap for his rivals at La Flèche Wallonne

The Ardennes' big dogs come out to close the spring classics on Sunday and we run down the favorites, the course and the underlying stories

Andrew Hood runs down the chances of the four Spanish favorites for the Ardennes classics

Movistar captain cleared for racing after Catalunya crash

Spaniard abandons following crash in Tuesday's second stage in Catalunya

Cancellara's painful second place at Milan-San Remo, Valverde to take on Gilbert and Evans, Taaramae out with mono, Quintero: "Thank God I'm alive."

Movistar captain takes command of WorldTour standings after strong week at Paris-Nice

Valverde doesn't expect to win, but hopes to make the podium at Paris-Nice,

De Gendt solos to victory while Leipheimer crashes three times, Wiggins holds lead

Van Garderen, Leipheimer, Valverde poised for GC battle

Spaniard looks back on joyless period, forward to Mende

Valverde holds off late charging Gerrans for another win in his comeback season

Moreno takes final stage