Astana’s Sanchez takes second at Gran Premio Miguel Indurain

NUR-SULTAN. KAZINFORM - Luis Leon Sanchez finished second at the Spanish one-day race Gran Premio Miguel Indurain held today in Estella (193 km). Sanchez made his final counterattack from the chasing group inside the last kilometer to take 2nd place just behind the solo winner Jonathan Hivert, the press office of the Astana Pro Team informs.

"I think that our team did a very good race. Of course, we wanted to win today and did all possible for that, but a place on the podium is also a nice result. Hivert attacked in a perfect moment at the last short climb and it was a good and very fast move, really hard to follow. All I could do in the end, just to try to finish on the podium and I did it. All team did a good job today, we tried to do our own race, we were aggressive and always stayed in front. For me, it was a good warm-up before the Itzulia Basque Country because I did not race since the Paris-Nice. So, a good day anyway for us and looks like we are ready for the race which starts on Monday," said Luis Leon Sanchez.

Astana Pro Team was very active during the whole race and with around 70 km to go Omar Fraile moved in front to attack away with a small group of riders. But, later a big crash in the peloton forced the jury to neutralize the race for some time. After the race restarted again, a group of 20 riders broke clear away with three riders of Astana Pro Team among the escapers: Luis Leon Sanchez, Omar Fraile, and Gorka Izagirre. All three worked well in front, attacking and counterattacking in the final part of the race.

Anyway, the decisive move came from the side of Jonathan Hivert, who went away with a few km to go to win the race. Luis Leon Sanchez finished second, while the Colombian Sergio Higuita completed the daily podium.

Photo credit: © FundaCiclistaEuscadi