Carlos Sastre (Cervélo TestTeam) finished today’s tough Pyrénéesn stage between Pamiers and Bagnères-de-Luchon 4’08” behind stage winner Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouyges Telecom). The 2008 Tour winner lost 1’18” to new yellow jersey Alberto Contador (Astana) and 39 seconds to former race leader Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) and a few seconds to a number of other rivals.
He now sits in 13th place overall, 9’02” behind Contador, and is feeling good about his performance; although he notes that the long race is taking it’s toll and tiredness is beginning to set in.
“It was really hard, really fast,” said the 2008 Tour winner after the stage. “The first 100km was like a MotoGP. It was really hard between the GC riders. I tried to keep going as hard as I could and tried to come back step-by-step. I was a little bit more in front and I am feeling better.
“There were some guys in front of me [on the general classification] who were dropped. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
He has risen two places in the classification, leapfrogging Giro d’Italia winner Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Doimo) and Nicolas Roche (AG2R-La Mondiale); the latter of whom was the victim of an unlucky puncture on the steepest part of the Port de Balès climb.
“Afterwards,” he continued, “when the breakaway took place, the peloton stopped a little and at the end of the race, with the Balès pass, the pace was oppressive, it was really hard. In today’s stage we’ve seen changes in the general classification and a lot of riders who are starting to feel tired, myself included, after a very hot Tour de France ridden at lightning speeds",
Sastre is now just 1’11” outside the top ten and, with riders like Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne) losing a lot of time on today’s stage, the Cervélo rider is steadily rising.
“I’m getting closer to the top riders,” he said, “and that gives me a special motivation after all the problems I suffered at the start of the race. In that sense, I’m feeling really very happy”