Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was an uncertain starter in the second stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, between Lamastre and Saint-Félicien, after his crash on stage one. The Olympic champion came down heavily in the first half of the 187km course between Seyssins and Saint-Vallier, heavily bruising his ribs; he was able to continue but, despite being nursed to the finish by two teammates, he lost 23’54” to stage winner Cadel Evans (BMC Racing).
Sánchez was an uncertain starter this morning, although he had expressed his intention to continue in the race, but was present at the start line.
“I had a bad night,” he told reporters. “My ribs hurt. According to the x-rays, they aren’t broken but it’s not certain. If it’s too painful, I’ll pull out, go back to Spain and undergo further examination.”
Once again, the Euskaltel-Euskadi team nursed its leader through the stage but, instead of losing almost 24 minutes at the finish, he conceded just over two. Despite the pain in his left side and his back, Sánchez managed to stay with the peloton until the final climb, and was just 2’05” behind stage winner Dani Moreno (Katusha) when he reached the finish,
"After the beating yesterday, perhaps this was the day that I suffered more on the bike,” he explained afterwards. “Although it was clear that it should be at the start of the second stage. Today I again suffered a lot of the time to follow the peloton, but we managed to get through the day. Let's see if I recover from the shock and have better feelings, but it hurts that area and I must continue with caution.”