Samuel Sanchez added another spoke to his wheel, by becoming the first Spaniard to win the Tour de France mountains classification since 1974.
Born in Oviedo, Sanchez joined a local junior team Club Ciclista Colloto, under the watchful eye of Jose Manuel Fuente. Fuente, who was also a Oviedo local, won the 1972 and 1974 Vuelta a Espana, as well as the mountains classification in 1972 and in the 173 Giro d’Italia.
Under the Wings of a Champion
He immediately begun to win the local races and was set on the path to professional cycling, at in 1996, when he was offered a place on the Euskaltel-Euskadi team. President, Miguel Madariaga, was persuaded by his son Mikel, to put Samu on the team. Despite not being from the Basque country, where the majority of the riders are from, Miguel accepted the advice of his son.
Sanchez found success, winning 18 races during his three early seasons, but struggled to adapt to his new surroundings and moved in with the masseur, in Güeñes. The year before he turned professional, life was about to deal Samu a tough blow, at 21, when he lost his mother to cancer. The experience forced Sanchez to grow up quicker, than he’d wanted, and he put all of his efforts in to cycling.
Becoming Professional
In 2000 Samu was promoted the professional team, but tendonitis in his right knee made it a difficult debut year. He didn’t win any races in his first two years, but a fifth place in the Spanish Road Cycling Championship and 10 in the Tour of the Basque Country showed he was moving in the right direction. His first victory came in 2004 at the Escalada a Montjuïc, which is a one-day two-stage race in Barcelona, and followed it up with victory in 2005.
2005 was also the year he finally broke in to the top ten of a Grand Tour, when he claimed 10th at the Vuelta a Espana. He had taken part in two Tour de Frances, in 2002 and 2003, but he’d withdrawn from both and managed 15th, in the previous year’s Vuelta. With his first big results behind him, Samu went on to take the points classification at the Paris-Nice, 4th at the Road World Championships and 7th at the Vuelta.
Olympic Success
The Beijing Olympics were most certainly the scene of Sanchez’s biggest achievement, when he beat Fabian Cancellara and David Rebellin and took gold. Conditions weren’t easy for any of the riders, with 90% humidity and smog making the race particularly difficult. Sanchez missed out on the initial break, but with the help of his teammates, the Russians and the Italians, they were able to get back to the front. As the riders passed through one of the Great Wall gates, Sanchez made a break for it. The Spaniard pipped Rebellin, by a wheel, who finished in just front of Cancellara; Rebellin was later disqualified, for failing a doping test.
His Olympic success moved over to the Grand Tours, as he took second in the 2009 Vuelta. Since then he has been the team leader for Euskaltel, at the Tour de France, and just missed out on the 2010 podium. With his Grand Tour form continuing to rise, it won’t be long before we see him in a top three spot.
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