Spaniard returning to Giro for first time since 2005
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Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel - Euskadi)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) and Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) shake hands(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Samuel Sanchez seems even more pleased than Urtasun(Image credit: Rob Lampard)
Ahead of the Giro d'Italia, in May, the talk has been about Vincenzo Nibali, Bradley Wiggins and Ryder Hesjedal. For most, they are the main contenders for the Giro podium. Euskaltel-Euskadi leader Samuel Sánchez is hoping to infiltrate that group and make it onto the podium.
"I have stage victories and podiums in the Vuelta and the Tour," Sánchez says to Cycling News HD. "So I would like to enter into the club that has had victories in all three grand tours. It would be a great dream come reality." Sánchez has three grand tour podiums to his name. He took third and second at the Vuelta a España in 2007 and 2009. He also inherited third at the 2010 Tour de France after his good friend Alberto Contador was disqualified.
It has been eight years since Sánchez took on the Corsa Rosa. The Spaniard finished 17 on that occasion, so why return after so long? "I fell in love with the Giro in 2005," he says. "I thought the race had an impressive atmosphere, the towns were decorated in pink, the side of the road was full of fans and the hills were covered in bicycles.
"The tifosi are the legacy of the purest cycling. As the years have past I have taken longer to get back (to the race) than I would have liked."
So far this season the Euskaltel rider has failed to replicate his performances from 2012, where he won the Vuelta a País Vasco. He still remains confident about his form ahead of the first grand tour of the year. "At Tirreno-Adriatico I was very competitive and made fifth on the hardest day," says Sánchez. "In the Vuelta al País Vasco I was a place off the win on the Queen stage. I have been a professional for 14 years and I have my baggage and my experience when preparing for my objectives."
The Giro d'Italia starts on May 4th in Naples and finishes May 26th in Brescia.
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Born in Ireland to a cycling family and later moved to the Isle of Man, so there was no surprise when I got into the sport. Studied sports journalism at university before going on to do a Masters in sports broadcast. After university I spent three months interning at Eurosport, where I covered the Tour de France. In 2012 I started at Procycling Magazine, before becoming the deputy editor of Procycling Week. I then joined Cyclingnews, in December 2013.
