Carlos Sastre hopes that his team, the Cervélo TestTeam, will get an invite to the mountainous 2010 Tour de France. Sastre wanted to make a decision after carefully studying all three routes, but apparently with enough details leaked from the Vuelta, he is ready to tackle a Giro-Tour double.
The Spaniard has made one major decision. “I haven’t decided on my 2010 calendar yet, but the Tour is certain,” he stated on his website. “I hope the Tour invites my team. This year we won two stages and the green jersey for the best sprinter.” Thor Hushovd with a stage win and the sprinter’s jersey as well as Heinrich Haussler with a stage win were the scorers for the team. “Cervélo showed a very high level and this, it appears to me, should be a sufficient guarantee to be present at the Tour.”
Sastre will decide in the coming weeks which other races he will put on his program for next season. While still waiting for the Vuelta route to be officially announced, he doesn’t seem to mind a Giro-Tour double header. “The routes from the Giro and the Tour are tough, with mountains and very little time trialing – tailormade for the climbers. The Tour parcours is very attractive; the Pyrenees are very tough and come in the final week, where I can defend myself very well,” Sastre said.
With the Tour pretty much decided to be in his program, he will still have to make a decision whether to ride the the Giro or the Vuelta. “Last season I ended tired, but I was ok by the Giro. I always did two Grand Tours very competitively, but this year I didn’t recover well. Now I had many days to disconnect from the world.” Sastre finished the Giro in fourth place, but the Tour was a disappointment (17th place).
Sastre has renewed energy after his first summer vacation in ten years. “I see myself more mature – I am 34 years old – and after winning the Tour, then changing teams and doing the Giro [where he won two stages -ed.], I would have liked to do something important in the Tour.” He admitted it wasn’t possible for a variety of reasons. He was quick to say that “my season wasn’t a failure.”
Sastre is getting to an age where he just wants to have fun. “The time that I have left in cycling, I’d like to tackle it with joy and with the spark that was lacking this year.”