Carlos Sastre
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He's looked miserable all year... Hope he enjoys putting his feet up0
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+1.
Possibly, unlike Cadel, the, ahem, cleaning up of the peloton came a little to late for him to shine?___________________
Strava is not Zen.0 -
With hindsight he probably should have retired a year or two ago. His wins were relatively few and far between but they were almost always big ones (GT stages) and his consistency in Grand Tours over the last ten years has been incredible. I for one was glad when he finally captured the big one in 2008.
Good luck Carlos."I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)0 -
Aye, good luck to you Carlos, in whatever you chose to do.
Was it Ned Boulting that once described him as having "a 1950s face"?0 -
Great rider back in the day, but his time has deffinately come, results this year and last have been pretty average to borderline poor, and he just hasn't looked happy. Will we see him in the team car maybe?0
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100% worth it's own thread, great rider who has been superb and consistent over the years. I too was very happy to see him win on the Alpe and hence the Tour overall in 2008 and finally a GT win. I hope he has a happy retirement.0
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He is obviously a talented rider but I was never excited by him. Probably due to what others around him were up to, and it seems he wasn’t, I guess.Mañana0
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It happens to everyone but it's still a bit of a shame. Thought he might have another year or two left.
One of my favourite riders. Good luck to him. As Riis said on that film 'Overcoming' he was an underrated rider (this was pre Tour win), and I always agreed with that. A real grand tour warhorse.
I remember spectating my first Tour stage at Ax-3 Domaines where he won in 2003 with his 'dummy' pose. Having said that he never really reinforced his status after his 2008 TdF win (where I did well at the bookies having backed him for the win).
Met him last week at the start of the Bilbao Vuelta stage. Had my photo taken with him cos I'm a bit teenaged like that.
Was also interested to see in the Vuelta coverage in Spain that both Delgado and Indurain were commentators. Maybe there's a future there for Carlos...0 -
He did have an exciting knack of doggedly clawing his way back long after you thought he'd been dropped/discounted. Proper diesel engine in his day.
Good Zen-like attitude as well, look back at the older Beyond the Peloton episodes if you don't know what I mean."Difficult, difficult, lemon difficult"0 -
He came over well in 'Overcoming', and i was glad to see him grab a GT too
good luck Carlos0 -
From the "pro lookalikes" thread........Garry H wrote:Was it Ned Boulting that once described him as having "a 1950s face"?
Bogart
Carlos
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Hasta la vista, Carlos.
ps Was well chuffed when some of the Spanish fans dug the retro Reynolds top.0 -
When he was on fire he was great. Some very good individual performances. Most memorable were his Giro wins.
Contador is the Greatest0 -
Sad to see Carlos retire, perhaps he'll become a coach (his father runs a cycling school).
Just very glad that he can look back on his career and say he won Tour.0 -
a great rider,and a gentleman by all accounts0
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Sad to see him go...
I'll always remember 2008 when left Frank/Andy and took the jersey.
He put in a stellar TT that year as well.0 -
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redddraggon wrote:I thought he'd retired two years ago :P
He certainly didn't ride a bike for six months after his tour winning year, hence the decline. If you start training in February you're going to be behind the curve.0 -
With Saiz and Riis as former DS' am I the only one that isn't buying the Mr Cleam schtick? ... Some of his stage wins in tne Giro were a bit out of the blue ...0
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Le Commentateur wrote:redddraggon wrote:I thought he'd retired two years ago :P
He certainly didn't ride a bike for six months after his tour winning year, hence the decline. If you start training in February you're going to be behind the curve.
Not true. He rode the Vuelta a Espana after winning the Tour in 2008. In fact he rode all 3 grand tours in 2009 with decent success in the Giro (2 stages and 3rd placing).x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Commuting / Winter rides - Jamis Renegade Expert
Pootling / Offroad - All-City Macho Man Disc
Fast rides Cannondale SuperSix Ultegra0 -
Crankbrother wrote:With Saiz and Riis as former DS' am I the only one that isn't buying the Mr Cleam schtick? ... Some of his stage wins in tne Giro were a bit out of the blue ...
See what you're saying, but he's called Mr Clean in Spain, despite his background.0 -
Garry H wrote:Crankbrother wrote:With Saiz and Riis as former DS' am I the only one that isn't buying the Mr Cleam schtick? ... Some of his stage wins in tne Giro were a bit out of the blue ...
See what you're saying, but he's called Mr Clean in Spain, despite his background.
The fact that people need to call him 'Mr Clean' kind of says it all ... It's kinda like being called 'Not Rapist' ...0 -
Do you mean 2010? That year he rode all 3 GTs - Giro, Tour and Vuelta - finishing 8th, 20th and 8th respectively. Most of the Tour's GC riders who also rode last year's Giro bombed in the Tour.gabriel959 wrote:He rode the Vuelta a Espana after winning the Tour in 2008. In fact he rode all 3 grand tours in 2009 with decent success in the Giro (2 stages and 3rd placing).
He won two stages and finished third in the 2009 Giro, but as 2nd place Doper Di Luca tested positive Carlos inherited second behind Menchov. He subsequently finished 16th in the Tour that year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Sas ... s_timeline
His response to Armstrong's comments about the 2008 Tour seemed to hint at the gulf between their personalities. I wonder if Carlos will reflect publicly on his career. I would be particularly interested in his observations about teams and interpersonal dynamics (particularly working with Riis/CSC and then Cervelo). I've always been struck by his candour and openness as well as a degree of humility that is understandably rare among top sportsmen.
Chapeau Carlos, the peloton will poorer without you.Aspire not to have more, but to be more.0
