Luis Leon Sanchez makes his return to Astana Qazaqstan Team
A very experienced Spanish rider Luis Leon Sanchez is going to make his come back to Astana Qazaqstan Team.
After a season spent in another project, Sanchez signed a new one-year contract (2023) with Kazakh WorldTour team.
"I am incredibly happy to return to the Astana team, in fact, to return home. I have great feelings, having signed a contract with the team again, for me it is a great joy and a huge motivation. I want to thank Alexandr Vinokurov and the entire management for this opportunity. It happened that at the end of the last year we had to part ways, but I used this season as productively as possible, I worked hard, gained new experience, tried to improve professionally. Of course, I am grateful to my current team for the great opportunity to spend the 2022 season together, but now I am looking forward to reuniting with Astana Qazaqstan Team to continue moving towards new goals together", – said Luis Leon Sanchez.
Luis Leon Sanchez spent seven seasons in the Astana project (from 2015 to 2021), during these years he managed to deliver a series of victories, including Itzulia Basque Country and Volta ao Algarve stages in 2016, Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli in 2017, Tour of the Alps and Tour of Almaty stages as well as Vuelta a Murcia in 2018, Tour de Suisse stage in 2019, road race of the Spanish National Championships in 2020 and Ordiziako Klasikoa in 2021.
During the 2022 season, Sanchez scored such results as 13th place in the overall standings of the Tour de France and 16th place in the General Classification of the Vuelta a España.
"We all know Luis Leon Sanchez very well; we know his strengths and capabilities. He is a great team rider, a great assistant and a true professional. It was a pity to lose such a reliable rider last year, but that's how the circumstances turned out. And now, I am very happy that there is an opportunity to invite him back to the team, to sign a contract with him. You can rely on Sanchez in any race, you can be sure that he will give 100% for the sake of achieving team goals. Therefore, I can only add "welcome home, Luis Leon", - said Alexandr Vinokurov, General Manager of Astana Qazaqstan Team.
Photo credit: @Gettysport
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