2009 Paris-Nice champion Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank)(Image credit: Isabelle Duchesne)
Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) goes through some last-minute checks(Image credit: Elmar Krings)
Luis León Sánchez (Rabobank) was taken to hospital for x-rays after a crash on stage 1 of the 2012 Tour de France. The Spaniard, and winner of last year's stage to Saint-Flour, crashed roughly 20 kilometres from Sunday's finish in Seraing. He finished the stage but lost 4:05 to winner Peter Sagan (Liquigas).
Clutching his left wrist as he limped into a team car headed to Maastricht hospital, a team spokesperson confirmed that Sánchez had finished the stage but complained of pain.
"He came back to the peloton after the crash but was then dropped. He's going straight to hospital now. We don't know if anything is broken but we just want some x-rays taken so that we can be sure that it's nothing serious."
Sánchez, who had been one of the favourites for victory on the opening stage, won the Spanish time trial championships last week and extended his contract with Rabobank on the eve of the Tour.
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
