Luis Leon Sanchez wins solo after phenomenal teamwork at Stage 2 of Tour de Suisse.
Meanwhile, at the Tour de Suisse, Astana Pro Team continued its fantastic Sunday with an amazing solo victory of Luis Leon Sanchez at the second stage of the race. Sanchez attacked with 11 kilometers to go and immediately opened a solid gap. He was able to stay clear away right until the finish line in Langnau im Emmental, taking a very emotional win.
– I am so happy I could win today, I did not expect I could be so strong in the final, but I was lucky to hold the gap until the end. We knew we have to do this race as hard as possible as there are many big sprinters in the peloton. We had to try to escape the bunch sprint to get a chance to fight for the victory. The team was super strong on the last two climbs and later when I saw a moment, I’ve made my attack. For a few kilometers, the situation still was on the limit as the peloton was really close, chasing me hard. But in the end, I’ve managed to resist and to win! I want to thank my teammates, they did phenomenal work during the whole day and, especially, in the final. It is a great moment for me to win here at the Tour de Suisse. Also, I want to congratulate Jakob Fuglsang and all Astana on the big success at the Critérium du Dauphiné! – said Luis Leon Sanchez.
With 2 climbs on each of the three local laps, the second stage provided a good opportunity for the riders who like and know how to attack. Astana Pro Team went on the front of the bunch at the bottom of the penultimate climb with around 40 kilometers to go, to set the pace. Firstly, it was Yuriy Natarov and Rodrigo Contreras and later, Andrey Zeits and Luis Leon Sanchez, who created a huge selection in the main group. Omar Fraile made a strong attack with 31 kilometers to go, but later he was caught back. But due to this attack, the group was split into parts. With 11 kilometers to go Luis Leon Sanchez went away solo and this was the winning move.
– We had a good plan for this stage to do it aggressive and hard for the rivals. All guys did a fantastic job, also Omar Fraile made a very nice attack, which helped us to reduce the peloton. We knew we have to keep on attacking and Luis Leon did it in the right moment. We can be happy with the way we started this Tour de Suisse and also with our team, that won the Critérium du Dauphiné in France! What a great day for Astana Pro Team, – said Dmitri Sedoun, sports director of Astana Pro Team.
