Samu not giving up on London Olympics

Despite breaking a bone in his arm, badly bruising his collarbone and taking a hit to his back with less than three weeks to go before the Olympic road race, Euskaltel captain Samuel Sánchez refuses to give up on his dream of defending his gold from Beijing.

Speaking from the IMQ clinic in Zorrozaurre, Bilbao, the Asturian told Europa Press that "we'll do everything in our power to get to London, but we'll see what happens".

Samu was initially selected into Spain's team alongside Movistar duo Valverde and Rojas, Katusha's Freire and Rabobank's Sánchez, but team boss José Luis De Santos faces a headache with everyone but Valverde and Sánchez already forced out of the Tour due to injuries. And it's not like Luisle is in perfect shape either, having injured his scaphoid early on in France.

Talking about Samu's injuries, doctors Mújika and Arrien explained he suffered "a head injury with brief loss of consciousness and immediate recovery", but there's no "worrying neurological signs or symptoms". The neurological examination was "perfectly normal".

De Santos is yet to comment on the make-up of his team and whether he'll make any changes to his five-man squad.

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