Top Cyclists to look out for in 2011 Tour de France - Part 4
Article continued from Top Cyclists to look out for in 2011 Tour de France - Part 3
Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez
Born on February 05, 1978, Samuel is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer. He won a gold medal in 2008 Beijing Olympics. Sanchez has proven himself in stage races and hilly classics in the last few years. Currently he is at number 8 after 12 stages
in general classification and also won the 12th stage winner of 2011 Tour de France.
Samuel started his professional career in 2000 with Euskaltel-Euskadi and still rides for the same team. He scored his first major victory in 2005 after winning the 13th stage in Vuelta a Espana, as he finished 11th in the general classification.
Sanchez moved up to the 10th place after Roberto Heras was erased from the results as he was found guilty of doping.
He played an important role at the World Championships and finished 4th behind Paolo Bettini, Erik zabel and Valverde. Sanchez won the men’s Olympic road race in 2008.
Sanchez was not amongst the first group of 26 riders that seemed to have better chances of winning the race. With his Spanish team-mates, he drove on a difficult track, but still managed to catch up with the 20 remaining cyclists of the breakaway, with only
20 kilometres to go. Sanchez won the gold medal after finishing only a wheel in front of Italy’s Davide Rebellin, while Fabian Cancellara received the bronze medal.
In 2006, he added two stage wins to his career in the Vuelta al Paris Vasco and a second place in Belgian Spring Classic La Fleche Wallonne on a sharp concluding climb.
Sanchez won the 13th stage in the Vuelta a Espana with a heroic attack in a downhill segment as he finished 7th in the general classification.
Sanchez finished third in the final classification of Vuelta al Pais Vasco next season and also won the 15th stage ahead of Manuel Beltran in the Vuelta a Espana. Sanchez reached the-finish line in excitement as he dedicated the win to his expected
son. Sanchez was the first rider of Euskaltel-Euskadi at the Grand Tour to achieve the podium.
Sanchez is looking good after winning the Stage 12 of Tour de France 2011, as he said, “It is very important for me to try and attack today, and it was easier for me to do so because the final was so important for the general classification. I also think
it was a good possibility because none of the leaders behind had more than two teammates. It was impossible for them to chase behind for the whole climb. I knew if we could climb 30 or 40 seconds ahead in the last kilometres we had a chance.”
The 33-year-old pleased thousands of Basque fans who crossed the Spanish border just to see their local hero in action and never forgot to mention them as he said, “It was important for me to win here today in Luz-Ardiden in front of my fans, in fact it’s
a double value win because of them.”
Sanchez managed to nail the victory when most of the favourites on this tour seemed helpless on the 2,115 m/6,939 ft. high Tourmalet on Pyrenees. The former Tour de France Champion, Alberto Contador, was at the 7th spot after 12th stage in general
classification.
Article continued from Top Cyclists to look out for in 2011 Tour de France - Part 5
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