Yesterday’s stage was a frustrating one for Carlos Sastre, who finished a distant 117th into Rapallo after crashing on a descent and suffering mechanical problems.
The Spaniard broke both wheels in his fall and while he received a bike from his team-mate Mauricio Ardila, the height difference between the two made chasing very difficult. “In the final part of the race, with just ten kilometres left before the finish line, my team mate Ardila gave me his bike, which meant that I was able to finish the stage losing as little time as possible,” he said.
“His bike is a lot smaller than mine and I did the last six kilometres practically standing, I could hardly sit down as we are different heights and I really had to give it my all to complete the last six kilometres without losing too much time.”
He lost one minute 14 seconds to stage winner Angel Vicioso (Androni Giocattoli) and 53 seconds to those in the peloton. He is one minute 55 seconds behind race leader David Millar (Garmin-Cervélo).
Sastre was able to keep things in perspective, saying that he and the rest of the peloton were very saddened by the death of Wouter Weylandts (Leopard Trek).
He previously spoke to VeloNation at the end of stage two and said that he hoped that things went well for Geox-TMC, which has pinpointed the race as one of its top targets for the year. It has been passed over for a Tour de France invite, and so the Giro represents the big Grand Tour ambition for this year.
“Together with Denis we have a strong team. Denis is in a really good shape,” he said. Sastre has suffered illness during the spring and while that has left him further behind in terms of form than he had hoped, Menchov’s good shape takes pressure of him. “That [his form] was also very important for me as I had more time to recover well, take it easy and arrive to the Giro d’Italia in the best condition.”
The 2008 Tour winner rode strongly in the race two years ago, picking up stage victories at Monte Petrano and Mount Vesuvius, and finishing third overall. The second-placed rider Danilo Di Luca was later disqualified.
This time round, he’s not starting the race in the same condition, but hopes to ride into form and land a decent result.
“My goals for the Giro? I don’t know…if I could win a stage, that would be really nice,” he said.