Samuel Sanchez to lead Team Euskaltel-Euskadi at the final World Tour race of the season, the Tour of Beijing
The last World Tour race of the season, the Tour of Beijing is all set to take place in Beijing, through October 9-13 and all the World Tour teams are finalising their squads for the event.
Spanish side, Team Euskaltel-Euskadi has decided to ride the event under the trustworthy leadership of the 208 Beijing Olympic Games gold medallist Samuel Sanchez.
The 34-year-old is having a terrific season and his supreme form was evident during the Tour of the Basque Country 2012.
He succeeded during the third and the sixth stages of the race and also claimed the point’s classifications along with an overall victory after the final general classifications.
Samuel finished second overall at the Volta a Catalunya and also bagged the sixth stage of the race along with a second place finish at the Giro di Lombardia 2012.
He claimed the seventh position at the Amstel Gold Race and the Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2012 and is in the right form to help his team with a much needed victory at the Chinese race.
"Last year was very special to be back in Beijing and compete on the roads that led me to conquer the most important achievement for an athlete, a gold medal at the Olympic Games," Sanchez said.
"This season we are back again with enthusiasm and to put on a great show for the fans and to encourage more people to go cycling”.
"Winning is always difficult, but we will fight to get it".
Samuel will be accompanied by the Vuelta a Espana stage winner Igor Anton and his support can be really useful for the Spanish team.
"Last year was the debut of the race and I was able to win the mountains classification," Anton said.
Team Euskaltel-Euskadi is at the 13th overall position after the UCI World Tour team’s rankings and the Tour of Beijing is its last opportunity to bag UCI points.
The Spanish squad has filled its bag with as many 555 UCI points in the earlier part of the season and Sanchez made the major contributions by adding 332 points.
Mikel Nieve (98 points), Jon Izagirre (46 points), Igor Anton (44 points) and Gorka Verdugo (35 points) also chipped in to help the team with its current position.
Winner of the Tour of Beijing will be awarded with a 100 UCI points while the second and the third positions holders will claim 80 and 70 points respectively.
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