Spirited Suisse ride lifts Sánchez

Luis León Sánchez has revealed that he started the Tour de Suisse in poor condition but the multiple Tour de France stage winner is improving daily.

The 26-year-old was hit by a car whilst training on June 2 but escaped injury, despite being taken to hospital for x-rays, and started the Tour de Suisse last Sunday. It wasn't an ideal beginning to the event, however.

"I had very bad days in the prologue and the first stage," revealed Sánchez. "I almost could not breathe and of course the rain and the cold weather did not help.

"But yesterday and today I began having good feelings again. I hope I will improve tomorrow too before the terrible mountain stage on Thursday," he said.

Sánchez, who has won stages of the last two editions of the Tour de France, is using the Swiss event as vital preparation for this year's Tour, where he'll again carry the responsibility of taking a stage victory for Caisse d'Epargne.

"Every day I am feeling better," he continued. "On Monday I attacked in the final part of the stage at about eleven kilometers from the finishing line. I did it for two reasons: The first one is that I wanted to know how I was really feeling. The second is the fact that we knew our team had a chance to win that stage."

And while Sánchez may have missed out on taking the win, he said he's happy to be enhancing his form with just three weeks until this year's Tour de France begins in Rotterdam on July 3.

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