Euskaltel-Euskadi's reigning Olympic road race champion, Sammy Sanchez, feels, like Alberto Contador, that July's Tour de France will be decided in the final week when the race passes through the Pyrenees. Sanchez believes that the Alps will "wear" on the riders, while the Pyrenees "will decide the race."
"The Pyrenees is where the race will be decided, especially on the stage to the Tourmalet and then the 50 kilometer time trial. Also, the dreaded stage over the pave will be critical, where the nerves will be on edge - you don't want to lose time on that stage."
Sanchez knows the importance of the mini-Roubaix stage, but also knows that a bit of luck will be involved in the frenetic stage. In times of stress and chaos, sometimes it's best to look at the situation with a bit of humor. Sanchez is of that mindset when looking at the cobbled day. He says that the team will "cross our fingers and pray to all the saints."
Team manager and former Tour de France contender himself, Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, is not too worried about the pave: "We are not a team that can win the Tour, and that is why we should not be as stressed as Contador, Armstrong, and the Schleck Brothers, who are all playing for victory, and a bad day on the pave could see them lose all hope. For us, it would not be a drama, because we want to win stages."
Sanchez has shown himself as a Grand Tour contender with solid performances at the Vuelta, including 2nd overall last year, but for the Tour de France, he confesses that he's taking the team party line and aiming first for stages: "a stage win is the number one objective." Of course, if a stage win comes, "you're going to be way up in the general classification and fighting for sure [for the overall]."
Gonzalez de Galdeano does let on to the hope that Sammy Sanchez could possibly contend for the overall though. While the team is not on edge over the cobbled day and the wild first week, they'd certainly like to see at least Sanchez come through unscathed, because Gonzalez de Galdeano feels that the Olympic champion "can aspire to something more on general classification."
Samuel Sanchez finished 6th in the 2008 Tour de France, but says that he's coming to this Tour de France in better condition. Even with the better condition, Sanchez knows that he will have to be patient, attentive, and strong early on, but he'll need to save his best for last. He notes that the great lap of the l'Hexagone will see its most important days come very late: "The route this year is very hard and the last week will be for people who have good legs, and if I'm good, I can pick up some fruit."
Most riders are usually rather quiet about their intentions for specific stages, but Sanchez has no qualms aiming for one in particular: Stage 15. The finish is in Bagneres de Luchon after a tough 20 kilometer descent from the top of the Port de Bales.