If you ride a bike outside for long enough, you will inevitably have a terrifying encounter with a motorist who completely loses their mind over being delayed by fourteen seconds. It is an unfortunate, universal truth of the sport. But for most of us, the confrontation ends with some aggressive horn honking and a few choice hand gestures.
For Alejandro Valverde, it ended with a retired Spanish Civil Guard officer intentionally using a two-ton vehicle as a weapon. And now, the Spanish justice system is finally looking to make an example out of him.
This week at the Provincial Court of Murcia, prosecutors officially requested a massive 15-year prison sentence for the driver who rammed into Valverde and his training partner back in July 2022.
Weaponizing a Hatchback
Let’s rewind to the incident, which took place in Alcantarilla, Spain. According to the prosecution, the driver had a verbal confrontation with the Movistar legend and his training partner out on the road. Instead of just driving away and cooling off, the man allegedly threw his car into reverse and intentionally plowed into the cyclists.
The prosecution isn’t pulling any punches here. They aren’t treating this as a simple traffic accident or a negligent bump. They are officially accusing the man of two counts of attempted homicide, along with one count of reckless driving, bringing the total requested sentence to 15 years and three months behind bars.
Naturally, the defense is currently arguing that there was “no homicidal intent.” Because apparently, when you intentionally run over two human beings with a motor vehicle after a screaming match, you’re just trying to send a strongly worded message.
The Indestructible “Bala”
Perhaps the most absurd part of this entire horrifying saga is the sheer physiological resilience of Alejandro Valverde.
At the time of the crash, Valverde was 42 years old and in the twilight of his sprawling, endlessly controversial career. He was violently struck by a car, thrown to the tarmac, and rushed to the hospital. Yet, within hours, Movistar released a statement confirming that “El Bala” had suffered zero fractures or serious injuries. The man literally bounced off the hood of a car, dusted himself off, and was back to logging massive training miles almost immediately.
While the two sides failed to reach an agreement in court this week, the trial will move forward. For a global cycling community that has to constantly defend its right to simply exist on the road, seeing prosecutors actively pursue attempted homicide charges against a road-raging driver is a massive, necessary step. Let’s hope the court in Murcia actually throws the book at him.