Sánchez time trials his way into form

Samuel Sánchez showed his shape is very much on the up in Wednesday's individual time trial in the Vuelta a España.

A top GC placing might be well out of arm's reach for the Euskaltel leader by this point, but that didn't stop him in leaving it all on the road in the 38km race against the clock starting and finishing in Tarazona.

While there was no stopping Fabian Cancellara taking the stage, 'Samu' came through for a solid tenth on the day - 2:13 back on the Swiss machine, but less than a minute behind most of his fellow GC contenders.

Jorge Azanza looked decent in 35th, while climbers Mikel Nieve and Igor Antón looked less impressive in 56th and 60th respectively.

Courtesy of his tenth on Wednesday, 'Samu' moves up to 15th overall.

Results:

• (1, Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Leopard), 51:00)
• 10, Samuel Sánchez, 2:13
• 35, Jorge Azanza, 4:15
• 56, Mikel Nieve, 5:01
• 60, Igor Antón, 5:04
• 72, Gorka Verdugo, 5:13
• 82, Egoi Martínez, 5:23
• 91, Mikel Landa, 5:37
• 110, Pablo Urtasun, 6:29
• 154, Juan José Oroz, 7:59

Photo: Orbea