2008 Tour de France winner sees similarities between the 2011 edition and the year of his overall victory
2008 Tour de France champion, Carlos Sastre, is pleased with the possibilities for the route of the 2011 Grand Boucle, presented yesterday in Paris.
"The route is interesting and tough with a spectacular start. There is no doubt that it will be nervous and very hard until the Pyrenees. Then, anything can happen, you know?" said the Grand Tour winner in a short conversation with feltet.dk at the Tour de France presentation on Tuesday.
The Spaniard, who will turn 36 in 2011, is excited about the mountainous lap of France that awaits next summer, namely the great climbs at the very end of the race in the Alps, which include two summit finishes - atop the Galibier and Alpe d'Huez.
"There is no doubt that the last three days are very, very hard, which suits me well. When it comes to endurance rather than explosiveness, it is better for me. I also am getting old."
Sastre had a disappointing run in 2010 - nowhere near the glorious year of 2008, or a still quite successful 2009 season. Sastre's final year with the Cervelo Test Team included all three Grand Tours, but no super results. Then again, 8th at the Giro, 20th at the Tour de France, and 8th at the Vuelta is nothing to scoff at.
For 2011, the climber who hails from Leganes near Madrid, will race for the new Italian squad, Team Geox. Sastre will team up with 2010 podium finisher, Denis Menchov, in hopes of achieving the overall win, and though he's on the second half of his thirties, Sastre feels that the general classification is still a real possibility.
"With a Tour like this, I want to go for victory. The route is similar to that of 2008 when I won the Tour. I have good memories from this type of Tour where it gets really hard at the end."
Unsurprisingly, the inclusion of Alpe d'Huez rekindles memories of Sastre's greatest success - stage glory, the Maillot Jaune, and eventually, his one and only Grand Tour victory in Paris a few days later.
"It was here where I won the Tour in 2008 with my attack from the bottom of the valley - why not do the same in 2011? It would be great to win on this mountain that I have many fond memories of."