Sánchez at the 2015 Vuelta a España
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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Luis León Sánchez Gil | |||||||||||||||
Nickname | Lulu, Luisle | |||||||||||||||
Born |
Mula, Spain |
24 November 1983 |||||||||||||||
Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | |||||||||||||||
Weight | 74 kg (163 lb; 11.7 st) | |||||||||||||||
Team information | ||||||||||||||||
Current team | Astana | |||||||||||||||
Discipline | Road | |||||||||||||||
Role | Rider | |||||||||||||||
Rider type | All-rounder | |||||||||||||||
Professional team(s) | ||||||||||||||||
2004–2006 | Liberty Seguros | |||||||||||||||
2007–2010 | Caisse d'Epargne | |||||||||||||||
2011–2013 | Rabobank | |||||||||||||||
2014 | Caja Rural–Seguros RGA | |||||||||||||||
2015– | Astana Pro Team | |||||||||||||||
Major wins | ||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Luis León Sánchez Gil (born 24 November 1983 in Mula) is a Spanish road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Astana. Sánchez's major achievements include winning the overall classifications of the 2009 Paris–Nice and the 2005 Tour Down Under, as well as the one-day race Clásica de San Sebastián in 2010 and 2012. He also has 4 Tour de France stage victories to his palmares and is a four-time Spanish National Time Trial Champion. He is a time trial specialist and has improved his climbing skills over the course of his career.
He is also known as Lulu Sanchez. Leon is not his surname but he carries it as a middle name as a mark of respect to his grandfather originally, but since late 2006 also as a tribute to his eldest brother, Leon Sanchez, who died in a motorbike accident. His younger brother, Pedro León Sánchez Gil, is a professional footballer, playing for La Liga side Getafe CF. His other brother, Antonio Leon Sanchez, plays indoor football. He is not related to fellow Spanish cyclist Samuel Sanchez.
Sánchez rode for team Liberty Seguros from 2004 until 2006, with his major results being overall victories in the 2005 Tour Down Under, and podium positions in the 2006 edition of the same race, and the Vuelta a Castilla y León.