Man charged with attempted murder of Alejandro Valverde, faces 15-year prison sentence

Valverde was one of the best riders in the world for more than 20 years, winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège four times, the Vuelta a España and the World Championship road race. He retired from professional cycling in 2022 and later became Spain’s national coach. But in the final year of his racing career, things went badly wrong in training, when he was struck by a car.

Valverde was riding with several training partners when a retired Guardia Civil officer, part of Spain’s police structure, allegedly drove into the cyclists. Valverde and another rider crashed heavily. The former world champion needed a month to recover, while the other victim reportedly needed more than a year to heal from his injuries.

The case has now ended up in court. According to AS, the Public Prosecutor’s Office is charging the suspect with two counts of attempted murder and one count of reckless driving. The fact that the motorist drove away from the scene is unlikely to help his case: if found guilty, the suspect faces a prison sentence of 15 years and three months.

Whether that will ultimately be the verdict remains unclear. The suspect’s lawyer argues that the facts do not support an attempted murder charge. According to the defence, there was no intent to kill, and the lawyer is therefore pushing for the case to be treated as assault instead. A hearing took place this week in an effort to reach a possible settlement, but those negotiations broke down. Even so, the suspect’s representative has said there is still hope that an agreement can yet be reached.