Rafael Valls

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Rafael Valls
Valls at the 2015 Tour de France.
Personal information
Full nameRafael Valls Ferri
Born (1987-06-25) 25 June 1987 (age 36)
Cocentaina, Spain
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight64 kg (141 lb)
Team information
Current teamTeam Jayco–AlUla
DisciplineRoad
Role
Rider typeClimber
Amateur teams
2007Relax–GAM (stagiaire)
2008Scott–American Beef (stagiaire)
Professional teams
2009Burgos Monumental–Castilla y León
2010–2011Footon–Servetto–Fuji
2012–2013Vacansoleil–DCM[1]
2014–2015Lampre–Merida
2016–2017Lotto–Soudal
2018–2019Movistar Team[2][3]
2020–2021Bahrain–McLaren[4][5]
Managerial team
2023–Team Jayco–AlUla
Major wins
Stage races
Tour of Oman (2015)

Rafael Valls Ferri (born 25 June 1987) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2021 for seven different teams. Valls took four victories during his professional career – a stage at the 2010 Tour de San Luis, a stage and the general classification at the 2015 Tour of Oman, and a win in the 2019 Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia one-day race.

Following his retirement, Valls now works as a directeur sportif for UCI WorldTeam Team Jayco–AlUla.[6]

Career[edit]

Born in Cocentaina, Valls left Vacansoleil–DCM at the end of the 2013 season, and joined Lampre–Merida for the 2014 season.[7] In 2015, Valls had his biggest victory to that point by winning the Tour of Oman and its fourth stage.[8] In September 2015 it was announced that Valls would join Lotto–Soudal from 2016 on a two-year deal.[9] In August 2020, he was named in the startlist for the 2020 Tour de France.[10] However, he crashed on the opening stage, and abandoned the race.[11]

At the end of the following year, Valls retired from the sport, despite holding a contract until the end of the 2022 season.[12]

Major results[edit]

Source: [13]

2005
3rd Time trial, National Junior Road Championships
2008
9th Overall Grand Prix du Portugal
2009
4th Overall Circuito Montañés
10th Overall Tour de l'Avenir
2010
2nd Trofeo Inca
3rd Overall Tour de San Luis
1st Mountains classification
1st Stage 2
9th Trofeo Deia
2014
8th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
2015
1st Overall Tour of Oman
1st Stage 4
8th Overall Paris–Nice
8th Overall Volta a Catalunya
2016
8th Overall Tour Down Under
2017
7th Overall Tour Down Under
10th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
2019
1st Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia
2020
9th Overall Route d'Occitanie

Grand Tour general classification results timeline[edit]

Grand Tour 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
A pink jersey Giro d'Italia DNF 29 DNF 96
A yellow jersey Tour de France 53 41 DNF 78 DNF
A red jersey Vuelta a España DNF 43
Legend
Did not compete
DNF Did not finish

References[edit]

  1. ^ Atkins, Ben (3 January 2012). "Vacansoleil-DCM presented with twelve new riders for 2012". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  2. ^ "Movistar sign Valls for 2018". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 28 September 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Movistar Team launches 2019 season with highest hopes". Telefónica. Telefónica, S.A. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  4. ^ Ostanek, Daniel (26 December 2019). "2020 Team Preview: Bahrain McLaren". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Bahrain Victorious". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  6. ^ Marcos, Alberto (22 September 2023). "Rafa Valls y la odisea de Jayco AlUla en La Vuelta: "Los ciclistas han crecido a palos"" [Rafa Valls and Jayco AlUla's odyssey in La Vuelta: "The cyclists have grown up hard"]. Rouleur (in Spanish). Gruppo Media Ltd. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  7. ^ "Spanish reinforcement: Rafael Valls Ferri in Lampre-Merida". Lampre–Merida. New Master SRL. 12 September 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  8. ^ "Rafael Valls jubilant after winning 2015 Tour of Oman". Velonews. 22 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  9. ^ "Lotto Soudal sign Rafa Valls on two-year contract". cyclingnews.com. 25 September 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  10. ^ "107th Tour de France: Startlist". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  11. ^ "The Tour de France ice rink: Who crashed and who's hurt". Cycling Tips. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  12. ^ Dabbs, Ryan (21 December 2021). "'After suffering several crashes, I'm not in the mindset to compete at that level': Rafael Valls announces retirement". Cycling Weekly. Future plc. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Rafael Valls". FirstCycling.com. FirstCycling AS. Retrieved 19 November 2023.

External links[edit]