Professional Cycling - Will tendonitis haunt Valverde's cycling career?

It was a shame when Valverde was forced out of the Tour de France because of developing tendonitis in his knee.

Is this condition curable? Or will Valverde have a career of possible flareups?

I'd heard that he banged his knee pretty good during the TTT and it just kept getting worse.

I developed severe tendenitis post knee surgery, and let me tell you, I could hardly walk let alone ride a bike. Imagine every step feeling like a thousand BIG needles stuck in your kneecap. For me to recover, I had to give up spring and early summer riding. I'm just now getting back on the bike. For 8 weeks all I could do is swim freestyle laps in the pool and put a floater between my legs so I didn't have to kick.

Knee tendinitis ends basketball and football careers if not treated properly. I suspect Valverde will be back in action faster than I was, but he's definitely gonna take it easy for a few weeks at a minimum. I feel like a knee expert at this point w/ all the complicaitions post menisectomy I went through. I also know the best knee doctor in the northwest if anyone is interested (totally off topic).

If you take care of tendonitis properly it can be overcome in no time and it is not a career plaguing injury (unless you try to keep powering through it) Otherwise it is just inflammation. Proper stretching after the inflammation is gone is one of the ways to keep tendonitis away.

-dan

It was a shame when Valverde was forced out of the Tour de France because of developing tendonitis in his knee.

Is this condition curable? Or will Valverde have a career of possible flareups?

I had it while playing basketball in high school. It's very painful when it flares up. You have to really look after it. Julius Erving played with it for a long time (in his knee) during his career. My orthopedic doctor used the term "jumper's knee".

Proper stretching after the inflammation is gone is one of the ways to keep tendonitis away.
I totally agree. I get it from basketball, and it is typically brought on my tight hamstrings for me. If I stretch, I can play, if I forget or get lazy, it's over.