Luis León Sánchez

Sánchez's major achievements include winning the overall classifications of the 2009 Paris–Nice and the 2005 Tour Down Under, as well as the one-day race Clásica de San Sebastián in 2010 and 2012. He also has four Tour de France stage victories and is a four-time winner of the Spanish National Time Trial Championships. He is a time trial specialist and has improved his climbing skills over the course of his career.

Luis León Sánchez

Sánchez at the 2015 Vuelta a España
Personal information
Full name	Luis León Sánchez Gil
Nickname	Lulu, Luisle
Born	(1983-11-24) 24 November 1983 (age 40) Mula, Spain
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	73 kg (161 lb; 11 st 7 lb)
Team information
Current team	Astana Qazaqstan Team
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All-rounder
Professional teams
2004–2006	Liberty Seguros
2007–2010	Caisse d'Epargne
2011–2013	Rabobank
2014	Caja Rural–Seguros RGA
2015–2021	Astana
2022	Team Bahrain Victorious
2023–	Astana Qazaqstan Team
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France 4 individual stages (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012) Vuelta a España Mountains classification (2014) 1 TTT stage (2019) Stage races Tour Down Under (2005) Paris–Nice (2009) One-day races and Classics National Road Race Championships (2020) National Time Trial Championships (2008, 2010–2012) European Games Road Race (2015) Clásica de San Sebastián (2010, 2012) Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli (2017)
Medal record Men's road bicycle racing Representing  Spain European Games 2015 Baku Road race 2015 Baku Time trial

Born in Mula, he is also known as Lulu Sánchez. León is not his surname but he carries it as a middle name as a mark of respect to his grandfather originally, but since late 2006 also as a tribute to his eldest brother, León Sánchez, who died in a motorbike accident. His younger brother, Pedro León, is a professional footballer, playing for Spanish team CF Fuenlabrada. His other brother, Antonio León Sánchez, plays indoor football. He is not related to fellow Spanish cyclist Samuel Sánchez.

Early career

Sánchez rode for the Liberty Seguros team from 2004 until 2006, with his major results being overall victories in the 2005 Tour Down Under, and podium positions in the 2006 Tour Down Under, and the 2006 Vuelta a Castilla y León.

Caisse d'Epargne (2007–10)

In 2007, he moved to the Caisse d'Epargne team following the collapse of the Liberty Seguros–Würth team in the wake of the Operación Puerto doping case. In his first season with the team, he won the Vuelta a Mallorca, and finished third in Paris–Nice after winning Stage 6.

The 2008 season saw Sánchez win another stage of Paris–Nice, this time finishing fifth overall. He claimed the Spanish National Time Trial Championships for the first time. He also rode his second Tour de France, and won Stage 7 after counterattacking, having been in a breakaway that was caught by the peloton.

Sánchez won the 2009 Tour Méditerranéen, and the following month won Paris–Nice after winning Stage 7 in a dominant fashion. He also won stages of the Tour of the Basque Country and the Tour du Haut Var, and took victory on Stage 8 of the Tour de France on his way to finishing 26th overall.

The 2010 season was Sánchez's most successful to date. He showed strong form in the early part of the season, finishing second in the Tour Down Under and winning the fifth stage. This was followed with another second place, in the Volta ao Algarve, after he won the final time trial. Sánchez attempted to defend his Paris–Nice title, but finished second overall, eleven seconds behind Alberto Contador. Sánchez then won the overall classification and a stage at the Circuit de la Sarthe in April. He recorded a fourth place in the Volta a Catalunya, and reclaimed his title at Spanish National Time Trial Championships. At the Tour de France, Sánchez finished second on Stage 9 after being in the breakaway, and went on to finish eleventh overall – later revised to tenth after Contador was stripped of the title – his best result to date in the Tour. Following the Tour, Sánchez took his biggest one-day race victory by winning the Clásica de San Sebastián. Sánchez also rode the Vuelta a España, and finished tenth overall after a strong final week.

Rabobank (2011–2013)

 

Sánchez joined Dutch team Rabobank for the 2011 season. Once again he won the Spanish National Time Trial Championships, and he also won Stage 9 of the Tour de France, but was unable to repeat his high overall placing of 2010, managing only 57th overall. Likewise, he rode the Vuelta a España and finished 53rd overall.

Remaining with Rabobank into 2012, Sánchez won Stage 6 of Paris–Nice after a long breakaway with veteran Jens Voigt, his fourth stage victory in the event. He also won two consecutive stages of the Tour de Romandie; on the first of these, he took the win over Lotto–Belisol's Gianni Meersman, almost pushing him in the barriers on the right side, but the commissaires judged the sprint to be legal. He led the race going into the final time trial, but put in a poor ride and dropped to tenth overall. Sánchez won the Spanish National Time Trial Championships again, and he won Stage 14 of the Tour de France, which included two category 1 climbs. He was in a breakaway with 4 other riders including Peter Sagan (Liquigas–Cannondale) when he launched a solo attack 11.5 kilometres (7.1 miles) away from the finish line to take the solo victory with a margin of 47 seconds on the chasers. Sánchez came close to a second victory on Stage 18 after he and Nicolas Roche attacked from the peloton in the final 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) overhauled the breakaway group and looked to have held off the chasing peloton only for Mark Cavendish to sprint past the pair in the final 200 metres (660 feet). On the following stage, Sánchez set the third fastest time in the time trial, with only the final two riders to set a time, Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins, beating Sánchez.

 

Sánchez was selected to represent Spain in the Olympic Games in both the road race and the time trial. His time trial was wrecked by two mechanical problems, including losing his chain as he left the start ramp. He went on to win the Clásica de San Sebastián, with a strong solo attack over the closing kilometres, while his teammates Mollema and Gesink disrupted the chase. He resisted to the peloton's return during his 9-kilometre (5.6-mile) solo ordeal, never getting more than 20 seconds of an advantage over the group.

In 2013, Rabobank left cycling as a sponsor and the team became Blanco Pro Cycling. At the beginning of February, the team decided to suspend Sánchez indefinitely, saying that they will investigate the past relationship between the rider and Eufemiano Fuentes, a doctor under trial for providing athletes with doping substances and performing blood transfusions. After a few weeks, Sánchez was reinstated in the team, and returned to race in the Tour of Belgium, where he won a stage. Sánchez planned to skip the Tour de France and focus on the Vuelta a España.

Caja Rural (2014)

In October 2013, Belkin Pro Cycling announced that Sánchez would be dropped from the team as a result of accusations linking him to the Operación Puerto doping case. In December, it was announced that Sánchez would join the Caja Rural–Seguros RGA team for 2014.

Astana (2015–2021)

In August 2014, Astana announced that they had signed Sánchez on an initial one-year deal for the 2015 season.

In June 2015, he competed in the inaugural European Games, for Spain in cycling. He earned a gold medal in the road race and a bronze in the time trial.

Team Bahrain Victorious

In October 2021, Sánchez signed a two-year contract with Team Bahrain Victorious, which would extend his career to twenty professional seasons.

General classification results timeline

Grand Tour general classification results
Grand Tour	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Giro d'Italia	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	35	—	43	25	—	—	33	—	24
Tour de France	—	108	—	—	62	26	9	57	64	—	—	—	48	—	DNF	DNF	32	—	14	—
/  Vuelta a España	—	—	DNF	72	—	—	9	53	—	DNF	56	33	26	32	—	23	DNF	DNF	16	61
Major stage race general classification results
Race	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Paris–Nice	73	54	13	3	5	1	2	28	17	—	—	DNF	17	—	21	9	—	17	DNF	24
/  Tirreno–Adriatico	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	22	—	—	—	—	—	—
Volta a Catalunya	—	92	71	—	78	—	4	—	49	—	28	—	—	—	—	—	NH	27	—	—
Tour of the Basque Country	—	—	—	—	DNF	5	—	14	—	—	37	18	46	32	—	27		—	DNF	22
Tour de Romandie	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	56	10	—	—	—	DNF	—	—	—		—	40	—
Critérium du Dauphiné	—	—	—	23	—	—	—	44	12	—	—	—	33	DNF	—	—	57	—	23	—
Tour de Suisse	—	—	—	—	—	—	35	—	—	36	—	—	—	—	—	32	NH	—	—	—