Euskaltel-Euskadi leader and Irishman hope to struggle on
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Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) struggles home(Image credit: Sirotti)
The hilly Liege-Bastogne-Liege terrain should play to the strengths of Daniel Martin (Garmin-Barracuda).(Image credit: Sirotti)
The Basque Euskaltel-Euskadi team has announced that Samuel Sanchez will continue to race the Critérium du Dauphiné despite the heavy crash and bruised ribs he suffered in Monday's stage one. The Olympic champion finished 24 minutes down on the stage winner Cadel Evans (BMC), visibly suffering, but x-rays at the hospital later showed no fracture.
"Yesterday, Samu was able to finish the stage thanks to his teammates. Today, he will take the start and I hope there won't be any problems to continue," directeur sportif Gorka Gerrikagoitia told Biciciclismo.
After his crash, Sanchez covered the remaining 140 kilometres surrounded by his teammates Pello Bilbao and Ricardo García. He was in a lot of pain, and could barely get off his bike on his own at the finish, his left rib cage heavily bruised.
Another crash victim of stage one was Garmin-Barracuda's Daniel Martin. He, too, will be at the start again today as he announdced on Twitter: "Been rocktaped back together for today's stage. Hope it works."
Tuesday's stage two of the Dauphiné will be a tough nut for both riders as it has six categorised climbs on the menu, totaling 2900 vertical meters.
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