Carlos Sastre knows the feeling of a stage win in the Tour. But wearing yellow for the first time was a new experience for the Spaniard and he enjoyed every moment of it.
"It is the first time that I wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France and it was a very nice experience. Above all, people remembered yesterday and talked about it. For me, it was a very special day."
In the beginning of the stage, Sastre couldn't enjoy showing off his new jersey, though. In the first hour, the riders covered 55.7 kilometres. "Regarding the stage, it started out very fast. Once the break established, we could pedal a bit more relaxed."
CSC is leading the teams classification, thanks to constant good finishes among the top three riders per stage. But there is another thing Sastre valued. "The team controlled the race in every moment, without any problems. That's why this was a day where I was able to enjoy the yellow jersey and just feel very good. It was also a day where I was well recovered [from the efforts in Alpe d'Huez] and I could already think about tomorrow [Friday] and how close we are already to Paris."
Sastre attacked on the bottom of the famous Alpe d'Huez climb in stage. He put more than two minutes into his closest rival, Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi). This time Sastre did not have to carry a pacifier in his pocket. "My kids are too old for pacifiers now." Sastre has a daughter and a son. In celebrating his Tour stage win five years atop the Plateau de Bonascre, Sastre pulled out a pacifier and put it in his mouth as he crossed the line.
Sastre holds a lead of 1'34 over fourth-placed Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto). His team-mate Fränk Schleck is in second, 1'24 behind, Austrian Bernhard Kohl in third, at 1'33.
