Sanchez wins second career time trial championship

Caisse d'Epargne dominated the podium in Spain as Luis Leon Sanchez Gil took his second Spanish title in the time trial discipline. The victory will see Sanchez line up in the national colours for next Saturday’s Tour de France prologue in the Netherlands, where he will lead the Spanish ProTour outfit.

Sanchez’s time of 0:43:34 for the 25.4 kilometre race was 41 seconds quicker than team-mate José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios while Ruben Plaza Molina was a further 17 seconds behind. Gustavo Cesar Veloso (Xacobeo Galicia) was the highest non-Caisse d’Epargne rider in fourth place, 1:28 minutes behind Sanchez.

Sanchez became hot favourite for the title earlier in the week when defending champion Alberto Contador (Astana) announced he would skip the event. Contador was forced to withdraw from the title race as he fends off a cold and makes final preparations for his Tour de France defense next month.

Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Euskaltel - Euskadi) took fifth place in the race, with an identical time to Cesar Veloso. Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Quick Step) was a further 15 seconds behind while seventh placed Jose Antonio De Segovia Botella (Xacobeo Galicia) was nearly a full minute behind Barredo, with a time marginally quicker than Francisco Mancebo Perez (Heraklion Kastro - Murcia) in eighth.