When Samuel Sánchez retired from professional cycling in 2017 after an illustrious 17-year career, he did so knowing that his competitive instinct would one day force his return to the racing arena.
“A sportsperson who has been at the highest level of their sport will always like to compete,” the 2008 Olympic road race champion and six-time Grand Tour stage winner tells Cycling Weekly. “ But I didn’t see myself racing as a cyclist into my 40s. It didn’t motivate me.”
So instead, at the age of 39, the Spaniard turned back to his first love. “I grew up with the snow, I am a snow person and my family are mountaineers,” he says. “I learned to ski when I was very small and did so until I was 18.
“In the winters I would have an Alpine ski race in the morning and when they closed the ski station, I went cross country skiing with the owner of the rental shop which would prepare me for the bike. I spent a lot of years balancing my days like this.”
However, dedicating his life to cycling aged 18 meant that Sánchez had to put his skis away, and he didn’t dust them off until he closed the door on a cycling career that brought with it 34 wins including a second on GC at both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España.
As soon as he started tearing down the pistes once again though it wasn’t long before his passion for skiing […]
Continue reading the original article at: www.cyclingweekly.com