Clasica San Sebastian winner, Luis Leon Sanchez, is headed to the beaches of his native Murcia for the next week. The two-time Tour de France stage winner will take a short break, then get back to work at a high altitude training camp at Sierra Nevada before taking aim at September's Vuelta a Espana.
The current 4th overall in the world, celebrated one of the biggest victories, and certainly his greatest one-day triumph, of his career on Saturday with the win over the twosome of Vinokourov and Sastre at the Clasica San Sebastian.
Sanchez admitted after the Tour de France to some disappointment following his first real effort at the overall netted him 11th on the general classification. Sanchez had won a stage in each of the last two editions of the Tour de France, but could not keep his streak alive in 2010. The Mula native came closest on the stage to St. Jean de Maurienne, but came up second to a rampant Sandy Casar.
Following his victory in San Sebastian, Sanchez admitted that he was feeling good coming out of the Tour de France and harbors more hopes for the rest of the season: “I was in good shape after the Tour de France. This victory is a reward for all the work the team does, and it is a source of motivation for the rest of the season.”
The Vuelta a Espana will be the next goal for the rider who can count five victories and countless top placings to his 2010 palmares. Sanchez's next steps following the Tour of Spain are up in the air however. The 26 year old has so far made it through his 2010 campaign with only a small amount of cumulated fatigue. He's not so sure that trend will continue and has already warned his Spanish team that he might not take part in the time trial at the World Championships in Australia.
Along with his active racing schedule, Sanchez is still deciding on which direction he will head in 2011. The winner of the Circuit de la Sarthe admits contact with Rabobank as well as a number of other teams, it appears that the ever improving all arounder would prefer to stay with Eusebio Unzue's team heading into the future. With the suspension of Alejandro Valverde for two years, Sanchez is in the pleasurable position as top rider in the Navarran outfit. The possible addition of Riccardo Ricco could change that if the potential deal goes through, but it seems like it would take a big offer to see Sanchez off to another team for 2011 and beyond.
Of course, that is all dependent on Unzue finding a replacement sponsor for the departing Caisse d'Epargne. Current rumors indicate that Unzue could be in talks with both Santander and Telefonica.
The 2009 Paris-Nice winner has certainly not made a decision just yet: "There's a long way to go before I made my decision. If the team folds, I would be able to go to another team, but many people would lose their jobs. I will not make a hasty decision, and I will wait for the right opportunity."