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

*Shortlisted for Cycling Book of the Year at the Sports Book Awards 2024*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. 'A study of a dominant force, a true gentleman racer despite his shadowy past' Dan MartinAlejandro 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. 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. Valverde's long career w