Sports manager of the BMC racing team Allan Peiper has admitted that the American team had wished to keep Samuel Sanchez in its ranks in 2015 but failed to reach a financial agreement.

The Australian coach regrets being unable to retain the Spaniard but neither wanted to do it at any price. "We could not find a common ground. The team wanted to keep him and Samu wanted to stay with the team, but the proposals we made ​​earlier in the season were not accepted," Peiper told Velonews . "So we found other riders to sign. Sometimes that's the game you have to play with the managers."

Peiper recognizes the work of the former Olympic champion who is still without a contract for next year. "He will be sorely missed," said Peiper. "When he was in the race, it was like having an extra two riders. I didn't know him before he came to the team and I thought it could be difficult with a former Olympic champion but he was very supportive, very professional in everything he did. We all said we would have liked to have worked with him 10 years ago."

In 2014 Sanchez played a key support role for Philippe Gilbert in the Ardennes and the Tour of Beijing and for Cadel Evans in the Giro d'Italia and showed that it is still able to achieve remarkable results when he was sixth in the Vuelta a Espana and fifth in Il Lombardia.