'Exhausted' Sánchez passes up on Tour

As has been widely expected, Samuel Sánchez will not be at the start of the Tour de France in little more than three weeks' time.

So says his team boss, Igor González de Galdeano, to the team's official website.

"It would be impossible to see 'Samu' at his best in the Tour, so we'd rather he relaxes with an eye on other challenges", Galdeano said.

Sánchez centred his first part of the year around an eventually unsuccessful Giro d'Italia bid, and it's long been expected he'll opt out of the Tour this year to focus on late-season races like the Vuelta, the Il Lombardia and, more than anything, the Worlds.

"We couldn't go into the Tour with the guarantees a rider of his stature deserves, leading us to discard this year's race. We've talked about it and he told me he finished up the Giro exhausted - both from the physical toll of preparing for the race and from the physical toll of the race itself. It was a very hard race".

Galdeano is currently taking in the racing in France from close quarters, hoping to see his Tour-bound riders finding form at just the right time.

While he'll hardly be convinced by his charges' performances up until this point, there are still days left for 'the Carrots' to show their worth.

"This is a very prestigious race, so it's important for the team to win a stage", he said. "What's more, a win would boost our morale ahead of the Tour".

The team's goal at the Grand Boucle will be to win a stage, says the team boss, and for that he'll send a "very competitive team".

According to the always well-informed BiciCiclismo, ten riders are in the frame for a spot on the team. The list includes the usual suspects, but allegedly Juan José Lobato is pushing for a start after a strong first few months in the orange jersey.

The ten riders on the list are:
Igor Antón, Mikel Nieve, Juan José Oroz, Juan José Lobato, Gorka Izagirre, Ion Izagirre, Mikel Astarloza, Pablo Urtasun, Romain Sicard and Rubén Pérez.

Photo: AS