Samuel Sanchez to climb the podium spot at the UCI World Road Championships
After missing the podium spot at the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday, Samuel Sanchez has now diverted his attention towards the UCI World Road Championships.
The Spaniard rode the Dutch race brilliantly and was amongst the top bunch still the end. He followed the wheel of race leader Enrico Gasparotto in the final kilometres but fell short of 2 seconds.
Gasparotto bagged his first victory of the 2012 season while Jelle Vanendert, Peter Sagan, Oscar Freire Gomez and Thomas Voeckler finished on the next four positions.
Samuel finished along with the 2011 winner of the Amstel Gold Race, Philippe Gilbert.
The Spaniard secured his first victory of the 2012 season at the Tour of Basque Country, along with the 3rd and the 6th stage victories at the race.
He finished 2nd overall at the Volta a Catalunya and bagged the sixth stage of the race to mark a perfect start of his 2012 season.
While commenting on the coming edition of the UCI World Championships, he told Nieuwsblad.be, “A world championship medal. Then I will have realized all my dreams since I began riding as a child”.
“I wanted to shine at the Olympics. I did that in Beijing in 2008. I wanted the polka-dot jersey at the Tour (de France, ed.). I did that last year”.
“I wanted to win the Vuelta a Pais Vasco. I did that last week. The only thing left is a medal at the Worlds. That is why it is so interesting to ride the Amstel Gold Race. It is a warm-up for the Worlds,” he concluded.
Sanchez started his professional pursuit with Team Euskaltel-Euskadi in 2000, and has shown his faith in the side.
He is continuing with the team for the 13th consecutive season and helped the side with a number of victories during his extensive career.
The 34-year-old is a main component in the side and helped the team with his all round performances on a number of occasions.
Samuel has claimed only one gold medal and that too during the 2008 Beijing Men’s Road Race.
He is also looking forward to the remaining Ardennes Classics, La Flèche Wallonne and the Liege-Bastogne-Liege, scheduled on the 18th and the 22nd of April, 2012.
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