Sánchez was among the favourites heading into the Tour de France, but a series of crashes in the first week saw him well down the classification as the race entered the Pyrenees. On Stage 12, the first summit finish of the Tour, Sánchez attacked the overall contenders on the final climb, to win the stage and gain back some time. The revised scoring system for the King of the Mountains competition also meant that Sánchez took the polka dot jersey. However, Jeremy Roy took the jersey the next day. On Stage 14, the next summit finish, Sánchez again attacked the overall contenders, and finished second on the stage to move up to sixth overall. He moved up to fifth on Stage 16, as he, Cadel Evans and Alberto Contador took time out of the other favorites on the descent into Gap. However, on Stage 18, Sánchez lost time on the Col du Galibier and dropped to 8th overall. On the following stage though, he and Contador attacked on Alpe d'Huez, with Sánchez finishing second to Pierre Rolland. This result moved him up to 7th overall, and meant he had effectively King of the Mountains competition as there were no climbs remaining in the Tour. Sánchez moved ahead of Damiano Cunego in the final Time Trial to finish the Tour 6th overall and 5th after Contador's suspension, and winner of the mountains classification.