Carlos Sastre Candil (; born 22 April 1975) is a former

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

and winner of the 2008 Tour de France. He consistently achieved outstanding results in the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the ...

and in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

. Sastre established himself as a strong and stable

climbing specialist A climbing specialist or climber, also known as a grimpeur, is a road bicycle racer who can ride especially well on highly inclined roads, such as those found among hills or mountains. Role of climber in a race In a sustained climb, the average ...

, and after working to improve his

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' " stopwatch stage"). There are also track ...

skills, he became a contender for the top GC spots in the

Grand Tours In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ''Grand Tours'', and all three races are similar in ...

. In total, Sastre finished in the top ten of fifteen Grand Tours during his career, and finished on the podium of each of them. Sastre never tested positive for drugs, nor was he implicated in any doping investigation, even though he performed at the top level of cycling. Sastre continues to be widely regarded, following the

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong ('' né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005 after recovering fr ...

affair, as one of the very few 'clean' riders to have won the Tour de France in the period from 1996-2013, as he has never been involved in a doping affair. In fact, with respect to doping allegations and admissions that have surrounded Tour winners in recent decades, Sastre has been called "Don Limpio" ("Mr. Clean" in Spanish) by the press and others.

Biography

When Sastre was young, professional cyclist Francisco Ignacio San Román lived in his parents' house during military service. Sastre was at first coached by his father, until he became an amateur. Sastre signed his first professional contract in 1997 with . In his five years at ONCE he mostly served as a

domestique In road bicycle racing, a domestique is a rider who works for the benefit of their team and leader, rather than trying to win the race. In French, ''domestique'' translates as "servant".However, in French, the term used is ''équipier''. In I ...

and only managed a few wins, though he showed his strength in the mountains with several good results, most notably winning the mountain competition in the 2000 Vuelta a España. In 2002 he switched to , where he filled the role of captain in the Vuelta a España and, until 2005, had a free role in the Tour de France. This resulted in his winning the 13th stage of the 2003 Tour de France, which Sastre won with a pacifier in his mouth, as a greeting to his infant daughter. Sastre finished 2 minutes 32 seconds ahead of team captain

Tyler Hamilton Tyler Hamilton (born March 1, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racer. He is the only American rider to win one of the five Monuments of cycling, taking Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2003. Hamilton became a professional cycli ...

on the stage. Before the 2004 season, Carlos Sastre and teammate

Ivan Basso Ivan Basso (born 26 November 1977) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 1999 and 2015 for seven different teams. Basso, nicknamed Ivan the Terrible, was considered among the best mountain riders in ...

trained extensively to improve their individual time trial skills, making them better all-round riders. They went to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

to train on

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

's wind tunnel. This helped Sastre improve his Vuelta a España performance, ranking 6th in the overall classification, as well as 8th in the 2004 Tour de France. Carlos Sastre 2005 TdF Stage 20 St Etienne ITT

Carlos Sastre 2005 TdF Stage 20 St Etienne ITT

In the 2005 Tour de France he was a domestique for Ivan Basso, and 21st in the overall classification. However, as the captain of Team CSC's 2005 Vuelta a España campaign, Sastre finally reached the podium of a Grand Tour, finishing in third place behind

Denis Menchov Denis Nikolayevich Menchov (russian: Денис Николаевич Меньшов; born 25 January 1978) is a former professional Russian road bicycle racer, who rode as a professional between 2000 and 2013. He was best known as a general clas ...

and initial winner

Roberto Heras Roberto Heras Hernández (born 1 February 1974) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer who won the Vuelta a España a record four times. Between 1997 Vuelta a España, 1997 and 2005 Vuelta a España, 2005 he finished in the top 5 of ...

. Heras was later disqualified due to a positive EPO test, making Sastre the

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

second placed rider of the competition. After the Vuelta a España, he extended his contract with Team CSC for another year. In May 2006 he signed a new contract which expired after the 2008 season.

2006

Before the 2006 Giro d'Italia in May, Sastre decided to ride the Giro d'Italia to help Ivan Basso to win, indicating that he would ride all three Grand Tours; the Giro and Tour in support of Basso and the Vuelta as team captain. In the Giro, Sastre's pace on select mountain stages helped Basso win the overall classification. Sastre finished 43rd in the GC of the 2006 Giro. Days before the 2006 Tour de France started in July, Team CSC suspended Ivan Basso as his name was brought up in the

Operación Puerto doping case Operación Puerto (''Operation Mountain Pass'') is the code name of a still unfinished Spanish Police operation against the pro sports doping network of Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. It started in May 2006, which resulted in a scandal that involved se ...

. This meant Sastre became the CSC team captain at the 2006 Tour. Even though his main focus for the season had been the 2006 Vuelta a España in September, this Tour was a great opportunity for Sastre to prove himself as a Tour GC contender. Through the mountain stages, Sastre proved himself the strongest mountain rider in the

peloton In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close ( drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The reducti ...

, beating Floyd Landis by one minute and 59 seconds and

Andreas Klöden Andreas Klöden (born 22 June 1975) is a German former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 1998 and 2013. His major achievements include a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games and finishing second in the gen ...

by two and a half minutes on mountain climbs. Sastre was placed well on stage 15, and came in 2nd on both stage 16 and 17, where he closed the gap to the then yellow jersey

Óscar Pereiro Óscar Pereiro Sío (; born 3 August 1977) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. Pereiro was declared the winner of the 2006 Tour de France, after the original winner Floyd Landis was disqualified for failing a doping test afte ...

. Before the penultimate stage of the Tour, the stage 19 individual time trial, Sastre was the second placed rider overall, trailing race leader Óscar Pereiro by 14 seconds. However, on the final time trial, which stretched 57 kilometres between

Le Creusot Le Creusot () is a commune and industrial town in the Saône-et-Loire department, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, eastern France. The inhabitants are known as Creusotins. Formerly a mining town, its economy is now dominated by metallurgic ...

and

Montceau-les-Mines Montceau-les-Mines () is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is the second-largest commune of the metropolitan Communauté urbaine Creusot Montceau, which lies southwest of ...

, Sastre finished 20th, losing several minutes to Pereiro, eventual overall winner Floyd Landis and Andreas Klöden, who took third place overall. Sastre thus finished the 2006 Tour in 4th place. Floyd Landis has since been stripped of this title, making Sastre 3rd in the 2006 Tour de France. When he finished the 2006 Vuelta 4th overall, Sastre, who also rode the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in 2006, became one of a rare breed of riders to finish all three Grand Tours in one year.

2007

In the 2007 Tour de France, Sastre finished 4th overall, 7'08" behind race winner

Alberto Contador Alberto Contador Velasco (; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice ( 2007, 2009), the Giro d'Italia twice (2008, 2015), and the Vue ...

. He finished 2nd overall in the 2007 Vuelta a España, 3'31" behind race winner

2008 Tour de France

Coming into the 2008 Tour de France, Sastre was considered one of the favorites to win the race along with Australian

Cadel Evans Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist, who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along wi ...

of Team , Spaniard

Alejandro Valverde Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (born 25 April 1980) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . Valverde's biggest wins have been the Vuelta a España in 2009, Critérium du Dauphiné in 2008 and 2009, ...

of and Russian

of . He also faced competition within his own team from brothers

Andy Andy may refer to: People * Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds * Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and pi ...

and

Fränk Schleck Fränk René Schleck (born 15 April 1980) is a Luxembourgish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2003 and 2016, for and . Schleck is the older brother of Andy, winner of the 2010 Tour de France. Their father, ...

, despite officially being the leader of . Sastre had a quiet, understated opening to the tour. After a lacklustre opening time-trial, he remained relatively restrained in the opening mountain stages in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

and opted to stay defensive and follow the wheel of his main rivals. This allowed his CSC teammate Fränk Schleck to claim the

yellow jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

at the finish to stage 15 at Prato Nevoso. However, on the crucial 17th stage, Sastre showed his class and mountain climbing prowess, attacking at the bottom of the final climb of the day, Alpe d'Huez, finishing 2 minutes and 15 seconds ahead of Evans, claiming both the stage win and the yellow jersey. Sastre, knowing that a slender lead over a strong time-trialist like Evans may not have been enough to secure overall victory going into the penultimate stage, sought to gain an advantage of at least a couple of minutes over his closest rivals. Following his victorious Stage 17 attack, Sastre took a lead of 1 minute and 24 seconds over teammate Fränk Schleck into the final time trial, although, more crucially, he had a further 10 seconds advantage over Evans, a man considered to be a more accomplished time trialist, who was widely expected to overcome the deficit and leapfrog Sastre into first place. However, Sastre managed to hold onto his lead in the time trial, finishing the Tour with a 58-second lead. Following his overall victory in the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulat ...

, Sastre found it hard to express his joy at finally achieving a boyhood dream; Sastre's victory capped an exceptional 2008 tour for , as they also won the

young rider classification Young rider classification (french: classement général des jeunes) is a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, which awards the current leader by overall time for rid ...

with

Andy Schleck Andy Raymond Schleck (; born 10 June 1985) is a Luxembourgish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 2010 Tour de France, being awarded it retroactively in February 2012 after Alberto Contador's hearing at the Court of Arbitration f ...

, the overall team classification, as well as 2 stages, the latter being won by Sastre, on l'Alpe d'Huez. His victory was however criticized by

, who said the 2008 Tour was a joke. Armstrong later apologized for this to Sastre. Sastre and CSC could not agree on a new contract, so Sastre left the team at the end of the year. After the Tour, Sastre ended up focusing on the

looking to double his victories. He later finished 3rd overall.

2009

Sastre joined the new for the 2009 season. He won the high mountain Stage 16 of the 2009 Giro d'Italia, which had been called the Giro's queen stage, after seven hours and twelve minutes. His decisive attack saw him break free from a group of general classification contenders to get to the summit of Monte Petrano just under half a minute faster than the group he left. After seeming off his form in Stage 17 of that race, Sastre rebounded with another solo ride to victory in Stage 19 to

Mount Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of s ...

. He then completed the Giro with a solid ride in the final time-trial around Rome to hold off

and finished 2nd overall. In the

2009 Tour de France The 2009 Tour de France was the 96th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on 4 July in the principality of Monaco with a individual time trial which included a section of the Circuit de Monaco. The race visite ...

, Sastre attempted to defend his title but had a quiet year finishing 16th overall.

2010

In 2010, Sastre raced all three Grand Tours, finishing 8th in the Giro, 20th in the

Tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

and 7th in the Vuelta. He announced that he would join Geox-TMC for the 2011 season.

2011

In the 2011 Vuelta a España Sastre himself finished 20th overall, but helped his teammate

Juan José Cobo Juan José Cobo Acebo (born 21 February 1981 in Torrelavega, Cantabria) is a retired Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He won the 2011 Vuelta a España as a rider, his first and only major title but in July 2019 he was stripped of th ...

, who was later, in 2019, considered ineligible for results due to the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the period between 2009 and 2011, claim the overall title ahead of

Chris Froome Christopher Clive Froome ɹɪs fɹuːm (born 20 May 1985) is a Kenyan/British road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He has won seven Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de France (in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017), one ...

was later recognised as the 2011 champion.

Bradley Wiggins Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but later made the transition to r ...

was promoted to second place, and Bauke Mollema promoted to third. Shortly afterwards, he announced his retirement, bringing an end to a professional career spanning 15 years.

Personal life

Sastre is married to the sister of cyclist

José María Jiménez Jose María Jiménez Sastre (February 6, 1971 in El Barraco, Spain - December 6, 2003 in Madrid) was a professional road bicycle racer. During his career he excelled as a climber, winning numerous mountain stages. His nickname was "El Chava" ...

, who died in 2003. Sastre dedicated his 2008 Tour victory to his memory.

Career achievements

Major results

Source: ;1997 : 3rd Overall

Vuelta a Navarra The Vuelta a Navarra is a road cycling stage race held annually since 1941 in the Autonomous community of Navarra, Spain. It was part of the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were ...

: 10th Overall

Grand Prix Guillaume Tell The Grand Prix Guillaume Tell (, "William Tell Grand Prize") was a professional cycling race held annually in Switzerland. It was part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were in ...

;1999 : 4th

GP Villafranca de Ordizia Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia – Clásica de Ordizia is a Spanish professional cycle road race held in Ordizia, Basque Country. The first edition was held in 1922. Since 2005, the race has been organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour ...

: 10th

Subida a Urkiola Subida a Urkiola is a one-day cycling race in Durango, Biscay of the Basque Country. The route starts in Durango and ends at the Sanctuary of Urkiola. The first edition began in 1931 and is organized by the Sociedad Ciclista Bilbaina, but has not ...

;2000 : 2nd Subida al Naranco : 4th

Clásica a los Puertos de Guadarrama Clásica a los Puertos de Guadarrama is a professional cycle road race held in the Sierra de Guadarrama, Spain in late August each year. The event was first run in 1978 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour T ...

: 4th Memorial Manuel Galera : 8th Overall

::1st

Mountains classification The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a femal ...

;2001 : 1st Stage 3

Vuelta a Burgos Vuelta Ciclista a Burgos is an elite professional road bicycle racing event held annually in the Burgos province of Spain. The men's Vuelta a Burgos has been a multi-day stage race as part of the UCI Europe Tour since 2005. In 2019, a multi-day ...

: 9th Overall

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of the season, it is considered to be an important prep ...

;2002 : 5th Overall

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. I ...

: 5th Züri–Metzgete : 10th Overall

;2003 : 6th Overall

: 9th Overall

::1st Stage 13 ;2004 : 4th

Classique des Alpes Classique des Alpes was a classic taking place as a mountainous single-day cycling race. It took place in Chartreuse Mountains, beginning in Chambéry and finishing in Aix-les-Bains. It was held between 1991 and 2004, a day before the start of the ...

: 6th Overall

: 8th Overall

;2005 : 2nd Overall

Escalada a Montjuïc The Escalada a Montjuïc (in Catalan, English: ''Scaling of Montjuïc'', Spanish: ''Escalada a Montjuïc'') was a one-day, two-stage road bicycle racing race held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain since 1965. It was held in the middle of October, as ...

::1st Stage 1 : 3rd Overall

: 6th

Giro dell'Emilia The Giro dell'Emilia is a late season road bicycle race held annually in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour, and since 2020 it's part of the UCI ProSeries calendar. The ...

;2006 : 1st Stage 5 (TTT) Giro d'Italia : 1st

Klasika Primavera The Klasika Primavera ( en, Spring classic) is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in April in Amorebieta, Spain. Since 2005, the race is organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road ...

: 3rd Overall

::1st Stage 17 : 4th Overall

::1st Stage 1 (TTT) : 5th Overall

;2007 : 2nd Overall

: 3rd Overall

: 4th Overall

: 7th

Clásica de San Sebastián The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa — Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián (San Sebastián Classic) is a one-day professional men's bicycle road race in northern Spain that has been held every summer since 1981 in San Sebastián. It is the m ...

;2008 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st

::1st Stage 17 : 3rd Overall

: 9th Overall

Vuelta a Murcia The Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia ( en, Tour of Murcia) is a road bicycle race held in and around Murcia, Spain. The first four editions were reserved to amateurs. Originally the race was held in early March and consisted of five stages. However, d ...

;2009 : 2nd Overall Giro d'Italia ::1st Stages 16 & 19 ;2010 : 3rd

: 7th Overall

: 8th Overall Giro d'Italia ;2011 : 3rd Overall

Tour of Austria The Tour of Austria (german: Internationale Österreich Rundfahrt) is a stage cycling race held in Austria. From 1949 to 1995 it was a race for amateur cyclists, turning into a professional event in 1996. In 2005 and 2006 it was organised as a 2 ...

: 7th Overall

Tour of Slovenia Tour of Slovenia is a stage race cycling race held in Slovenia. Between 2005 and 2018, it was organised as a 2.1 race on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle spor ...

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

Official homepage

Cervélo TestTeam profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sastre, Carlos 1975 births Living people Cyclists from the Community of Madrid Spanish Tour de France stage winners Tour de France winners Spanish Vuelta a España stage winners Spanish Giro d'Italia stage winners Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of Spain People from Leganés