[7][8] 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 four Tour de France stage victories and is a four-time winner of the Spanish National Time Trial Championships.

His younger brother, Pedro León, is a professional footballer, playing for Spanish team CF Fuenlabrada.

He recorded a fourth place in the Volta a Catalunya, and reclaimed his title at Spanish National Time Trial Championships.

[10] He also won two consecutive stages of the Tour de Romandie; on the first of these, he took the win over Lotto–Belisol's Gianni Meersman, almost pushing him in the barriers on the right side, but the commissaires judged the sprint to be legal.

[12] Sánchez came close to a second victory on Stage 18 after he and Nicolas Roche attacked from the peloton in the final 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) overhauled the breakaway group and looked to have held off the chasing peloton only for Mark Cavendish to sprint past the pair in the final 200 metres (660 feet).

He went on to win the Clásica de San Sebastián, with a strong solo attack over the closing kilometres, while his teammates Mollema and Gesink disrupted the chase.

[15] At the beginning of February, the team decided to suspend Sánchez indefinitely, saying that they will investigate the past relationship between the rider and Eufemiano Fuentes, a doctor under trial for providing athletes with doping substances and performing blood transfusions.

[17] In October 2013, Belkin Pro Cycling announced that Sánchez would be dropped from the team as a result of accusations linking him to the Operación Puerto doping case.

In October 2021, Sánchez signed a two-year contract with Team Bahrain Victorious, which would extend his career to twenty professional seasons.