The challenges he sets for his body and mind while training are strenuous: shocking his system with cold showers; forcing himself to only breathe through his nose while pushing his heart rate to 150-160 beats per minute; and working through heat to further desensitize himself. Sanchez is also watching his weight, wanting to avoid any gain through the upcoming holidays. 

“I intend to go to Tokyo and smash three gold medals, I want to be a beast,” said Sanchez, who competes in the road race, time trial and mixed team relay. “I love odds being against me, because it fuels me up. At the end of the day, I will be calm, collected and ready to go. I will be prepared for Tokyo by the work I am starting now.”

Sanchez has made a big equipment switch, now riding on a carbon fiber hand cycle. He admits he was one of the last holdouts to change from alloy to what’s now the standard material for competitive bikes. He was leery about carbon fiber, doubting it would add much to his riding. 

Now he has the answer.

“It’s taking me to another level, it was my Achilles’ heel that I wasn’t on it,” Sanchez said. “I really didn’t understand or respect how important it is to aerodynamics. I was really slow to that insight. It’s going to be a game-changer for me. I can see that already. I am going to go to another level of speed.”

Sanchez has built up strong relationships with sponsors since the 2012 London Games, allowing him in invest in new equipment like carbon fiber. He has not yet used it in competition, since the year’s slate was canceled or changed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He sees the difference in training, though, as he slices through the wind faster and can now get speeds up 30 miles per hour with less effort. 

As Sanchez ramps up his training, he has been keeping the four-time Paralympic gold medal hand-cyclist Alex Zanardi in his thoughts. Zanardi was seriously injured in June after losing control of his bike and being hit by a truck during a road race in his native Italy. He was put in a medically induced coma and underwent multiple surgeries for facial and neurological injuries.

“I think about him, his family, and just send them so much love,” Sanchez said. “I can say there hasn’t been a day where I have not thought about him. He such a stand-up guy, and he has done so much to bring positive attention to our sport. You can never take anything in life for granted. And I am not. I am focused every day to be my best at home and in training.”