Sastre: A stage to wear you out

Carlos Sastre was happy to not have lost time in the nervous stage 3 of the Tour. When the peloton split in three, the Spaniard was glad to have solid team-mates all around him. "Riding with people like Cancellara, O'Grady, Arvesen, Voigt or the Schleck brothers ... gives you a feeling of tranquility and an impressive calmness. It was a stage that wore out all the teams."

Sastre expected such a stage with all the cross winds and rain in the past few days. And he knew that the tail wind in the final sections would make for a fast, furious and possibly dangerous finale. "The final was very nervous and there was a lot of tension. As we could see, there were important riders for the overall who lost time."

Overall, Sastre was happy with the first half of the first week. "Another day gone by where the form is not bad. And Tuesday – with the first time trial – those of us who think about the general classification have the first important test in this race."