Caisse d’Epargne rider Luis León Sanchez is taking aim at the overall classification of the Volta ao Algarve this week. Like many riders though, he has found that the unusually cold European weather has hampered his preparations for the race.
“After the Challenge of Mallorca I was not able to train as well as I would have liked to because the weather in Murcia was really bad,” he explained. “I arrived at home on Thursday night. On Friday I recovered from the efforts I did during the [Mallorca] Challenge and on Saturday it was almost impossible to train because it was raining really hard during the entire day. I spent some more time on my bike on Sunday as well as on Monday, but on Tuesday we had to travel to Portugal.”
The weather experienced in the southern Portuguese race, coupled with the high speed on the flat coast roads at the beginning of the stage, made the Caisse d’Epargne rider uncomfortable. He recovered later on and is optimistic about his form returning as the race progresses.
“The rhythm was rather high during this first stage and I had some difficulty breathing during the first kilometres,” said the Murcian rider. “But after a few kilometres I felt feeling better and better. I am sure I will be all right from tomorrow on. I will take it easy in this race but anyway my intention is to get a good result.”
So long as he can stay near the top of the standings, Sanchez hopes that the final rolling 17.2km time trial stage on Sunday will give him a chance for overall victory. “I want to be amongst the first of the classification on the eve of the time trial that will take place on Sunday,” he said, “because I hope to be fighting with the best riders.”