Having just returned to competition after a long suspension imposed on him by his own Blanco team, Luis Leon Sanchez showed that he had trained properly by winning the queen stage of the Tour of Belgium last week. However, he will not show off his good form in the Tour de France as his team has chosen to omit him from its line-up and instead he will target the Vuelta a Espana where he hopes to win his first ever stage.

Luis Leon Sanchez has been a controversial figure in the early part of the year. Associated with the codename Huerta from the Operacion Puerto papers, his Blanco team chose to put him on inactive status while carrying out an internal investigation into his possible involvement.

While training alone at home, Sanchez apparently appealed that decision to the UCI and suddenly was allowed back into competition without any public information as to the result of that appeal. He lined up for the first time in last week's Tour of Belgium and immediately showed off his talents by taking a stage win in the race's queen stage after a 40km solo breakaway - holding off a 4-rider group containing the two world champions Philippe Gilbert and Tony Martin - and finishing 2nd overall.

In an interview with Biciciclismo he tells about his experiences during his absence from competition and the uncertainty in the lead-up to his first race of the season.

"At first I felt pretty bad when I was supposed to start in Mallorca and suddenly was denied my place in the team," he explained. "Then I went back to my family and could use them as a refuge. At least I had the opportunity to enjoy my family and my daughter who is almost two years old. It was tough to train every day withnout knowing when I would be allowed to race. You miss the competition and try to focus on your daily rhythm. I trained a lot with Valverde and his teammates when they were at home. However, I trained more alone than ever before with a particular focus on my climbing. I knew that I would - sooner or later - be allowed to return to competition."

The return to racing in Belgium was a tough one.

"The first days were flat stages," he said." I lacked pace, especially at the end of the races and when we exited the corners. I was not comfortable but with each passing day, I felt better. My legs hurt. I knew it would be difficult and my head was prepared to suffer."

"The last stage was the hardest," he said of the his stage win. "The race was fast because BMC set a strong pace. When Gilbert and Tony Martin were left without teammates after the second passage of (famous climb, ed.) La Redoute, I knew it was time. When I attacked my idea was to get as far as I could and then use it as a good workout if I was caught."

Despite saving the team's otherwise hugely disappointing Tour campaigns in his first two years at the Dutch squad, the Spaniard has, however, been overlooked in the selection process for the line-up for la Grande Boucle. Instead, the Spaniard has a completely different schedule to what he has had in recent years.

"Tour de Suisse, the Spanish championships, rest, the Tour of Poland, the Tour de l'ain and the Vuelta," he said of his race schedule. "The team has decided that I won't do the Tour because there already is a group preparing to race, and that is a decision I have to respect. I am not complaining. In Switzerland, the climbs are harder than in Belgium where they were only short hills. We'll see where I stand."

Instead of targeting a fifth Tour stage win, he will now focus on taking a maiden win in the Vuelta and bringing home his fifth Spanish time trial championships. His next race, the Tour de Suisse, starts Saturday June 8.