Samuel "Samu" Sánchez González (born 5 February 1978) is a Spanish former professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

, who rode professionally in the sport between 2000 and 2017 for the and squads. He was the gold medal winner in the road race at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In the following years Sánchez proved himself in

hilly classics Hilly may refer to: * a place with hills * a place with hill country People Surname * Francis Billy Hilly (born 1948), Solomon Islands politician * Jed Hilly, American musician * Pat Hilly (1887–1953), American baseball player Given name * Hil ...

and stage races as one of the most important riders in the peloton. He was also known as one of the best descenders in the

peloton In a road Cycle sport, bicycle race, the peloton (, originally meaning ) is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close (drafting (racing), drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The ...

. He finished in the top 6 of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

three times and in the top 10 of the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

6 times. Other notable achievements include winning the

Vuelta a Burgos Vuelta Ciclista a Burgos is an elite professional road bicycle racing event held annually in the Burgos (province), Burgos province of Spain. The men's Vuelta a Burgos has been a multi-day stage race as part of the UCI Europe Tour since 2005. In ...

in 2010, the 2012 Tour of the Basque Country and five stages of the Vuelta a España.

Career

Euskaltel–Euskadi (2000–13)

He started his professional career in 2000 at the Spanish team and remained there until the team's disbanding in 2013.

Early years

In 2003, Sánchez finished 6th in

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège , also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Cycling monument, Monuments'' of the Eur ...

and third overall in the Tour of the Basque Country. The following year, he came 4th in

, and came 15th overall in his first

. He recorded his first major victory in 2005 when he won the 13th stage in the

, finishing 11th in the general classification. After winner

Roberto Heras Roberto Heras Hernández (born 1 February 1974) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer who won the Vuelta a España a record four times. Between 1997 Vuelta a España, 1997 and 2005 Vuelta a España, 2005 he finished in the top 5 o ...

was erased from the results for doping use, Sánchez shifted up to the 10th place.

2006

In 2006, Sánchez added two stage wins in the Tour of the Basque Country and a second place on the steep finishing climb of the Belgian spring classic

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. It is part of the UCI World Tour. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is ...

. He finished 4th overall in

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the ...

, winning the points jersey in the process. In the

he won the 13th stage with a daring attack in a downhill section and finished 7th in the general classification. At the

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and , a UCI Road World Championships ...

in the Austrian city of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Sánchez played a major part by creating the decisive break in the final kilometre for his leader

Alejandro Valverde Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (born 25 April 1980) is a Spanish cyclist, who competed as a professional in road bicycle racing from 2002 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2022, and now competes in gravel cycling for the Movistar Team Gravel Squad. During ...

. Sánchez himself finished 4th behind

Paolo Bettini Paolo Bettini (born 1 April 1974) is an Italian former champion road racing cyclist, and the former coach of the Italian national cycling team. Considered the best classic cycle races, classics specialist of his generation, and probably one of th ...

Erik Zabel Erik Zabel (; born 7 July 1970) is a German former professional road bicycle racer who raced for most of his career with Team Telekom. With 152 professional wins and 211 wins in his career, he is considered by some to be one of the greatest Germ ...

and Valverde. One week later he won

Züri-Metzgete Züri-Metzgete (Zürich German; ; ) was a European Classic cycle races, Classic cycle race held annually in Zürich, Switzerland, and continued as a non-professional mass participation event from 2007 until 2014. It was a race with a long history ...

, his first classic. With to go he attacked to solo into Zürich with half a minute to spare over Stuart O'Grady and

Davide Rebellin Davide Rebellin (9 August 1971 – 30 November 2022) was an Italian professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 1992 and 2022 for twelve different teams, taking more than sixty professional wins. He was considered one of the ...

. Two weeks later he finished second in the

Giro di Lombardia The Giro di Lombardia (), officially ''Il Lombardia'', is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Cycling monument, Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cycli ...

, and secured his second place in the final

UCI ProTour The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle racing, road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, i ...

classification.

2007

In 2007, Sánchez started with a ninth place in

and he won the final time trial in the Tour of the Basque Country, finishing third in the final classification. After a winless classics season Sánchez won the final stage in the

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; Tour of Catalonia, ) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of the Basque Country. The race has had ...

. In the

he won the 15th stage ahead of Manuel Beltrán, after attacking in Alto de Monachil, showing his fast descending skills to catch Beltrán in the descent to

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

. Beltrán asked Sánchez to let him win, but Sánchez wanted to dedicate this win to his future son, expected to be born in March 2008. Sánchez won by some metres and reached the finish line as if holding a baby in his arms. He also won the last mountain stage up to Alto de Abantos and the last time trial, allowing him to move into 3rd overall. This meant he became the first rider of to achieve a podium in a Grand Tour.

2008

In 2008, Sánchez rode his first complete

, and finished 6th overall. In August Sánchez won the Olympic road race in 90%

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

and

smog Smog, or smoke fog, is a type of intense air pollution. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words ''smoke'' and ''fog'' to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odour. The word was then inte ...

, a race that ran twice each lap through stone gates in the

Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against vario ...

. About a quarter of the way through the race, a breakaway group of 26 riders ahead of the

were the first viable group to have a chance of winning the race, but Sánchez was not among them. Sánchez and his Spanish teammates, along with strong help from the Italians and Russians, drove the peloton at a tough pace to catch the group of 20 or so remaining members of the breakaway; and, with to go, Sánchez and two others escaped and were only caught when Swiss rider

Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara (born 18 March 1981), nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss people, Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He is known for being a qual ...

, Russian

Alexandr Kolobnev Alexandr Vasilievich Kolobnev (; born 4 May 1981) is a Russian former professional road bicycle racer. His major victories include winning the 2007 Monte Paschi Eroica, a stage of the 2007 Paris–Nice and he is a two-time winner of the Russi ...

and Australian Michael Rogers latched onto the group with only a few kilometres left. At the sprint finish of six men, after an uphill section that ran through a gate in The Great Wall one last time, Sánchez finished a wheel ahead of Italy's

to take gold, with Cancellara taking the bronze.

2009

In 2009, Sánchez won the Gran Premio de Llodio, and he came third overall in the Tour of the Basque Country, winning the points classification. He finished second to

in the

, his second podium finish in the event. Sánchez also came second in the

, after getting back to

Philippe Gilbert Philippe Gilbert (born 5 July 1982) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, who is best known for winning the 2012 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, World Road Race Championships in 2012, and for being one of two rid ...

who attacked in the last climb. The pair collaborated well together during the last kilometres to keep the chasers at bay during the descent and Sánchez lost the sprint by half a bike length.

2010

In 2010, Sánchez came first overall in the

, as well as winning two stages and the points classification in the event. He also won a stage in the Tour of the Basque Country, winning the points classification in the race as well. Sánchez carried his good form into the

where he finished 4th overall, after losing out on a podium place to

Denis Menchov Denis Nikolayevich Menshov (often mistakenly romanized as Menchov, ; born 25 January 1978) is a former professional Russian road bicycle racer, who rode as a professional between 2000 and 2013. He was best known as a general classification rider ...

in the final time trial. He was later moved up to 3rd overall after the disqualification of

Alberto Contador Alberto Contador Velasco (; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice (2007, 2009), the Giro d'Italia twice (2008, 2015), and the Vuelta ...

and then Sánchez moved up to 2nd overall after the disqualification of Menchov, too.

2011

Sánchez was among the favourites heading into the

, but a series of crashes in the first week saw him well down the classification as the race entered the Pyrenees. On Stage 12, the first summit finish of the Tour, Sánchez attacked the overall contenders on the final climb, to win the stage and gain back some time. The revised scoring system for the

King of the Mountains The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest ...

competition also meant that Sánchez took the polka dot jersey. However, Jérémy Roy took the jersey the next day. On Stage 14, the next summit finish, Sánchez again attacked the overall contenders, and finished second on the stage to move up to sixth overall. He moved up to fifth on Stage 16, as he, Cadel Evans and

took time out of the other favorites on the descent into Gap. However, on Stage 18, Sánchez lost time on the

Col du Galibier The Col du Galibier (el. ) is a mountain pass in the southern region of the France, French Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble. It is the eighth List of highest paved roads in Europe, highest paved road in the Alps, and recurrently the List of highe ...

and dropped to 8th overall. On the following stage though, he and Contador attacked on

Alpe d'Huez L'Alpe d'Huez () is a ski resort in Southeastern France at . It is a mountain pasture in the central French Western Alps, in the Communes of France, commune of Huez, which is part of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-R ...

, with Sánchez finishing second to Pierre Rolland. This result moved him up to 7th overall, and meant he had effectively King of the Mountains competition as there were no climbs remaining in the Tour. Sánchez moved ahead of Damiano Cunego in the final Time Trial to finish the Tour 6th overall and 5th after Contador's suspension, and winner of the mountains classification.

2012

In 2012, Sánchez's main focus was the

and the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. He started the season in good form when he won the Tour of the Basque Country. He won stage 3, which was deemed as the queen stage of the race, shaking off Joaquim Rodríguez and

Chris Horner Christopher Brandon Horner (born October 23, 1971) is an American retired professional Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 1996 and 2019. A current resident of Bend, Oregon, Horner dominated the American ro ...

on the last climb of the day, the steep Alto de Ustartza. He then prevailed in the sixth and final stage, an individual time trial held in

Oñati Oñati (, ) is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the north of Spain. It has a population of approximately 10,500 and lies in a valley in the center of the Basque country. It lies abo ...

. He took the leader's jersey from Rodríguez winning the general classification by 12 seconds. In July, bad luck struck on the eighth stage of the Tour de France where he crashed heavily on a narrow road after of racing. Sanchez was forced to withdraw due to numerous injuries, namely a broken finger bone and a badly bruised upper back and shoulderblade.

2013

In 2013, Sánchez aimed for the

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

. However, he only was able to finish 12th overall, despite still recovering from his injury he suffered during the previous year's Tour de France. After the Giro, Sánchez won stage 6 in the Criterium du Dauphiné after out sprinting

Jakob Fuglsang Jakob Diemer Fuglsang (born 22 March 1985) is a Danish professional road racing cyclist, who rides for UCI ProSeries, UCI ProTeam . Before turning professional for , he was a mountain biker racing for Team Cannondale–Vredestein, winning the Und ...

. The latter was his only victory of the year.

BMC Racing Team (2014–17)

After the demise of the team, Sánchez and many former riders of the team faced difficulties securing new contracts for the 2014 season. However, on 2 February it was announced that Sánchez would ride for the . The Ardennes classics along with Grand Tours were stated as his main objectives. After riding the

in support of Cadel Evans, Sánchez led the at the

, where he finished sixth. In addition he finished fifth in the

. However he was not selected by the national coach Javier Mínguez for the

Ponferrada Ponferrada () is a city of Spain, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Ponferrada, the second most populated municipality of the Province of León, is also the capital city of El Bierzo, the only Comarcas of Spain, ''comarca'' ...

and was upset about it. In January 2015, announced that they had re-signed Sánchez for the 2015 season. The team's sporting manager Allan Peiper stated that Sánchez's role in the team would be similar to that in 2014, but with a greater focus on supporting and developing the team's younger riders. In the first months of 2016, Sánchez had better results than in his previous years at , and his contract was extended until the end of 2017. Sanchez rode the

, but crashed out in the last time trial. In the 2017 Tour of the Basque Country, Sánchez was close to a stage victory, but crashed and was injured; this injury plagued him for the first half of the year. When asked if he was considering retirement, Sánchez responded that he did not know what he wanted yet, and that he would wait until after the

. However, a few days before the Vuelta started, an out-of-competition doping test from Sánchez came back positive for the growth hormone releasing peptide GHRP-2, and he was therefore provisionally suspended, and not allowed to start the race.

Suspension

On 13 May 2019, the UCI, the sport's governing body, suspended Sánchez for two years, effective from his initial provisional suspension on 17 August 2017. The UCI accepted that the positive test came from a contaminated supplement, yet chose to suspend him nevertheless. While Sánchez could return to competition in August 2019, '' Cyclingnews.com'' considered this unlikely given his age of 41.

Major results

;1999 : 3rd Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships ;2000 : 2nd Tro-Bro Léon : 5th Road race, National Road Championships ;2002 : 4th Overall

Volta ao Algarve Volta may refer to: Persons * Alessandro Volta (1745–1827), Italian physicist and inventor of the electric battery, count and eponym of the volt * Giovanni Volta (1928–2012), Italian Roman Catholic bishop * Giovanni Serafino Volta (1764–1 ...

: 10th Overall Tour of the Basque Country ;2003 : 2nd Tour du Haut Var : 2nd

Klasika Primavera The Klasika Primavera () is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in April in Amorebieta, Spain. Since 2005, the race is organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Established in 1946 as ''Gran Premio de Primavera'', it is now he ...

: 3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country : 5th

Subida al Naranco Subida al Naranco is a professional cycle road race held in Spain in early June each year. The event was first run in 1941 but was not held consistently until 1981. Between 2005 and 2010, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Eur ...

: 6th

: 7th Overall Vuelta a Asturias : 9th Overall

;2004 (3 pro wins) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Escalada a Montjuïc ::1st Stages 1a & 1b ( ITT) : 3rd Overall

Vuelta a Andalucía The Vuelta a Andalucía (Tour of Andalusia) or Ruta del Sol (Route of the Sun) is a regional Spanish road bicycle race first held in 1925. Since 2005, it has been a 2.1 category race on the UCI Europe Tour. The race became a part of the new UCI ...

: 3rd Overall

Euskal Bizikleta Euskal Bizikleta (Spanish: ''Bicicleta Vasca'', English: ''Basque Bicycle'') was an annual road cycling stage race held in the Basque Country in June. From 2005 to 2008, the race was organized as a 2.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2009, it ...

: 4th

: 8th Overall Tour of the Basque Country : 10th Overall Vuelta a Asturias : 10th Gran Premio de Llodio ;2005 (3) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Escalada a Montjuïc ::1st Stage 1b ( ITT) : 2nd Overall Vuelta a Asturias : 5th

: 9th

Clásica de San Sebastián The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa — Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián (San Sebastián Classic) is a one-day professional men's bicycle road race in northern Spain that has been held every summer since 1981 in San Sebastián. It is the m ...

: 10th Overall

::1st Stage 13 ;2006 (5) : 1st

: 1st Stage 3 Vuelta a Asturias : 2nd

: 2nd

: 4th Road race,

: 4th Overall

::1st

Points classification : 6th Overall Tour of the Basque Country ::1st Stages 2 & 3 : 7th Overall

::1st Stage 13 ;2007 (5) : 1st Stage 7

: 2nd Overall Escalada a Montjuïc : 3rd Overall

::1st Stages 15, 19 & 20 ( ITT) : 3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country ::1st Stage 6 ( ITT) : 3rd

: 7th Road race,

: 7th Overall

: 9th Overall

;2008 (2) :

::1st

Road race ::6th

Time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

: 1st Stage 2b ( ITT) Vuelta a Asturias : 6th Overall

: 7th

;2009 (1) : 1st Gran Premio de Llodio : 2nd Overall

: 2nd

: 3rd

UCI World Ranking The UCI men's road racing world rankings are a points system used to rank men's road cycling riders. Points are awarded based on results in UCI sanctioned races, with points varying widely based on the importance and prestige of the race. The ...

: 3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country ::1st Jersey green

Points classification : 4th Road race,

: 4th

: 9th Overall

: 10th Overall Vuelta a Asturias : 10th

;2010 (5) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stages 2 & 5 : 1st

: 2nd Overall

: 4th Overall

Critérium International The Critérium International was a two-day Stage (bicycle race), bicycle stage race held in France every spring from 1932 until 2016, typically the last weekend of March. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in ...

: 5th Overall

: 6th Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal : 6th

: 7th Overall Tour of the Basque Country ::1st Jersey white

Points classification ::1st Stage 4 : 8th

: 9th

;2011 (4) : 1st

GP Miguel Induráin The Grand Prix Miguel Induráin (), formerly the "Grand Prix Navarre" is a Spanish one-day road bicycle race. History The race was inaugurated in 1951, but was limited to local competition. It was rebranded after Spanish cyclist Miguel Indurái ...

: 3rd

: 4th Overall

::1st Stage 1 : 5th Overall

::1st

Mountains classification ::1st Stage 12 : 5th Overall

: 6th

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ranking system based upon perfor ...

: 6th Overall Tour of the Basque Country ::1st Stage 4 : 7th

: 9th Overall

: 10th

;2012 (4) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour of the Basque Country ::1st Jersey white

Points classification ::1st Stages 3 & 6 ( ITT) : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 6 : 2nd

: 6th Overall

Vuelta a Murcia The Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia () is a road bicycle race held in and around Murcia, Spain. The first four editions were reserved to amateurs. Originally the race was held in early March and consisted of five stages. However, due to Spain's fina ...

: 7th

Amstel Gold Race Amstel Gold Race may refer to: * Amstel Gold Race (men's race) The Amstel Gold Race is a one-day classic cycle races, classic road bicycle race, road cycling race held annually since 1966 Amstel Gold Race, 1966 in the province of Limburg (Netherl ...

: 7th

: 9th

;2013 (1) : 8th Overall

: 8th Overall

: 9th Overall

Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycle sport, cycling road bicycle racing, road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during ...

::1st Stage 7 ;2014 : 5th

: 6th Overall

;2015 : 1st Stage 9 ( TTT)

: 1st Stage 3 ( TTT)

: 1st Stage 1 ( TTT)

: 2nd Overall

Tour de Yorkshire The Tour de Yorkshire was a road cycling race in the historic county of Yorkshire, England which first took place in May 2015. It was promoted by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and was rated as a 2.HC event as part of the UCI Europe Tou ...

;2016 (1) : 4th

: 6th Overall Tour of the Basque Country ::1st Stage 4 : 6th Overall Tour of California : 6th

;2017 : 1st Stage 2 ( TTT)

General classification results timeline

Monuments results timeline

Major championship results timeline

References

External links

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Samuel 1978 births Living people Spanish male cyclists Olympic gold medalists for Spain Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Spain Spanish Vuelta a España stage winners Spanish Tour de France stage winners Cyclists from Oviedo Olympic gold medalists in cycling Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics 2011 Tour de France stage winners Doping cases in cycling Spanish sportspeople in doping cases