Carlos Sastre had planned to head into the Giro d’Italia as co-leader of the Geox TMC team with Denis Menchov, but now appears to concende that he will instead play a supporting role.
The 35 year old Spaniard has had a quiet season thus far, finishing 91st overall in the Vuelta a Murcia, 148th in the Volta a Catalunya and then 52nd in last week’s Vuelta a Castilla y Leon. He has had chest problems in recent weeks and his condition is clearly not where he had intended it to be.
“Every day I feel a little better,” he said, but admitted that the “Giro d’Italia is too close.” The Italian Tour begins in two and a half weeks, and he knows now that he doesn’t have enough time to get to the shape to fight to the overall classification.
It’s undoubtedly a disappointment for the rider, particularly as his team hasn’t been invited to this year’s Tour de France, but he resolves to do what he can to help his team fight for the overall in the race.
“I know that Denis is doing well and will arrive in very good condition,” he said. “That allows me to take things a bit more calmly and, above all, try not to make mistakes.”
Sastre was 31st in the time trial, 58 seconds behind Contador. He afterwards described that race against the clock as an important test which helped him see what kind of shape he was in.
As ever, Sastre looked for the silver lining in the grey cloud. “I think that there is something positive to draw from this, and that is that I'm recovering a little each day from the infection I had,” he said. “My physical form is not what it could be, but it isn’t bad either. What I do feel though is that there is not much time left before the Italian Giro to get into the kind of shape that I want to be in.”
He said that he was determined to make the most of the time he has left before the start of the Italian Grand Tour. “There are two very important weeks ahead now, and these will define how I'm able to progress and improve between now and the Giro, which in theory should be quite a lot.”
Sastre won two stages in the 2009 Giro d’Italia, and ended the race third overall. The rider who was second, Danilo di Luca, has since been disqualified.
The Spaniard hasn’t been in the same form since then. He’d dearly like to win a Grand Tour again before retiring, and will aim to reach his very best possible condition for the Vuelta. The Giro title, though, appears to be one for Menchov to target.