Luis León Sánchez lost 1'40 to stage winner Tony Martin in the stage six time trial of Paris-Nice. The Spaniard was one place and two seconds behind his teammate Bauke Mollema, with whom the Rabobank management was much happier than with Sánchez's performance. In the overall, Sánchez lies 11th, one place and one second behind Mollema.
Rabobank's sports director Erik Dekker was quite blunt in his remarks after the stage. "We had expected more from Luis Léon; he himself as well," Dekker said on rabosport.nl. He was much happier with Mollema's showing. "Bauke surpassed himself in this discipline," Dekker stated.
Dekker analyzed the performance by Sánchez critically. "He gave everything, but that was not enough." Sánchez also had hoped for a better result in his first year with the orange squad. "He wanted to prove himself for the team," Dekker said. "He started well, but in the second part Luis Léon lost too much."
Dekker is aware that Sánchez was struggling with back problems, but didn't think that this was the reason for the slowing towards the end of the time trial. "He was treated Thursday evening and said afterwards that he was feeling well. I did not hear him complain after the time trial, either."
Before the stage, Sánchez was ninth, only 18 seconds adrift. With the overall chances much lower, the team puts more emphasis on stage victories for the weekend. But the captains will still be preserved for the general classification battle. "There are still two more tough stages, where everything is possible. We give the other guys some freedom to chase adventures. Juan Garate and Laurens Ten Dam were great [in the time trial]."
So those can ride for themselves, while Rabobank hopes that Mollema and Sánchez are still up for getting higher GC places. Other factors may play a key role in the two final stages. "It is possible that we will get some rain. That is not to our disadvantage," said the director of the Dutch squad. "The race may then develop differently."