Olympic champion assumes 3rd place overall after a stellar effort
Each year, a considerable number of the world’s best cyclists focus their entire season around the month of July. Sometimes the gamble pays off, but more often than not, the riders are found lacking, as a scant few dominate the overall standings. This year, the two that look destined to impose their will on the race are defending champion Alberto Contador and current Maillot Jaune, Andy Schleck. Not too far behind the powerful duo, however, is a rider that somewhat questionably decided to put all of his eggs in the Tour de France basket in 2010: Olympic Champion, Samuel Sanchez.
The Asturian who rides for the Basque team, Euskaltel-Euskadi, finished an excellent 2nd place to Caisse d’Epargne’s Alejandro Valverde at the 2009 Vuelta, but the jump from Vuelta contender (or Giro for that matter) to Tour podium threat is often a difficult one. After nine stages though, Sanchez appears to have done everything right leading up to the race and has exceeded all expectations during the Tour de France so far.
After two solid days in the mountains, Sanchez has shown himself to be a rider capable of doing battle with Contador and Schleck, or at least closer to being able to do battle with the leading two over most everyone else. On the first summit finish of the 2010 Tour in Avoriaz, Sanchez was the only rider capable of following the perfectly timed acceleration of Andy Schleck in the closing moments of the stage. Sanchez not only followed, he pushed the pace all the way to the line. It’s arguable that the 2007 7th overall finisher at the Tour did a bit too much and left himself open to being beaten by a much slower finisher in Schleck.
Two days later, following the Tour’s first rest day, Sanchez was at it again. Soon after Andy Schleck’s first big attack with 40 km to go on the Madeleine, Sanchez showed himself to be the only other rider capable of getting back on to terms with last year’s first and second place finishers in Paris. Sanchez not only got back on terms, he rode right past the two.
His effort was short-lived, and he found himself chasing once again following yet another attack from Schleck, but the statement had been made. Though Sanchez would never make contact with Schleck and Contador again in Stage 9, he wasn’t going to lose much time either.
Sanchez chased in vain over the final 6 kilometers of the Madeleine and crossed over the summit only 30 seconds in arrears. For most riders, one against two on a descent that did require some significant pedaling, would be a bridge too far, but there’s one thing that Sanchez has over both Schleck and Contador and the rest of the world’s cyclists: the ability to descend like a rock tossed from an airplane.
As this year’s top two racers put together an excellent descent, Sanchez was hard at work doing an even better one. As the kilometers of the descent ticked down, so did the gap to the leading pair. At the base of the Madeleine with 10 kilometers to go, Sanchez got to within 10 seconds, but that’s as close as he would get.
The cameras showed everything: Sanchez had cracked. The high-octane descent had left not a moment for the former winner of Zuri-Metzgete to recover, and just as the race hit the final flat 10 kilometers to St. Jean de Maurienne, Sanchez crumbled.
It looked like he was done, but he recovered well enough, and battled the final 6 miles to the line, his face a contorted window to his suffering. On the line, Sanchez lost 50 seconds to Contador and Schleck, but picked up a huge sum of time over the rest of the 2010 contenders: when the overall math was calculated, Sanchez proved to be the biggest mover on the day as he leapfrogged from 9th overall to 3rd.
Afterwards, Sanchez admitted to feeling what everyone plainly saw on television: “It has been very hard, and I suffered a lot. I had very bad moments on both the Madeleine when Contador and Schleck attacked, but also the last few miles before the finish.”
While thoughts immediately turn to a possible place on the podium in Paris, Sanchez disregards the possibility for the moment: “I’m very tired. Such efforts are expensive, and there are a lot more efforts to pay for remaining in this Tour. I will go into every day with great respect, because there are people who are stronger than me. I have to stay calm. I have to take this third place overall with much serenity, because there is still a world to go until Paris. We must keep our feet on the ground.”
Team manager, former Tour de France contender, Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, is also cautious about the prospects for a first ever Euskaltel visit to the final overall podium in Paris: “We are optimistic, but in moderation. Samu has proved to be in good form, but the Tour is long, and much remains until its conclusion.”
De Galdeano admits, however, that Sanchez has been stellar so far: “His ride to Morzine Avoriaz was impressive, and then again today he has returned to race with the best. Just Contador and Schleck were better on a very demanding day.”
“Samu” now sits 2:45 behind new leader, Andy Schleck, and 2:04 behind the two-time Tour de France champion from Pinto, Alberto Contador. His lead over the best of the rest is tenuous, only 13 seconds ahead of 4th place Denish Menchov, but if his riding over the last two days in the mountains is in anyway indicative of what’s to come, he should be a solid contender for the final spot on the podium in Paris.