Samuel Sanchez proved that he is still a force to be reckoned with in grand tours when he finished the Vuelta a Espana in 6th. The Spaniard was pleased with the result at the end of what he described as a peculiar year and admitted that he had been a step below the best.

Samuel Sánchez of the BMC Racing Team earned his fifth career top 10 finish at the Vuelta a España Sunday with sixth place, while teammate Rohan Dennis was third in the individual time trial that capped the final grand tour of the year. 

Sánchez finished 48th on the final stage to wind up 9:30 behind race winner Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo). Chris Froome (Team Sky) was runner-up and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) finished third overall.

Sanchez improved on his eighth place of a year ago and added to a runner-up finish in 2009 and third-place result in 2007. He was also seventh at the Vuelta in 2006.

"We put on a very good race for cycling fans and I am proud to have contributed to it," Sánchez said. "As for the team and me, I can say we always worked at the top level and we fought together to get the best result possible. For sure I was a little bit step under the first five riders in the overall. But I am happy about that because my year was a bit peculiar. Now I will prepare for the world championships in Spain."

BMC Racing Team Sport Director Valerio Piva said he was pleased with the team's overall performance in the three-week race.

"I am really happy with the performances, especially that of Samuel," he said. "At the end, we can say we were there, supporting our leader and trying to win stages."

Dennis had the fastest time at the intermediate checkpoint. But the silver medalist in the Commonwealth Games time trial earlier this year was slowed by the wet and rainy conditions in the second half and crashed just after the finish on slick cobblestones.

Adriano Maolori (Movistar Team) won the 9.7-kilometer race, eight seconds ahead of Jesse Sergent (Trek Factory Racing) and nine seconds ahead of Dennis.

"I felt really strong," Dennis said. "It was a little bit of bad luck with the rain but that's the way it goes. Hopefully, next time, I will be a little bit more lucky." 

BMC Racing Team Dr. Scott Major said Dennis was not seriously hurt when he went down, but did have some superficial abrasions.