Carlos Sastre (CSC) smiling at the start (Image credit: Unipublic)
Team CSC rider Carlos Sastre is a rider who always appears to be patient and polite to the myriad journalists who are competing for his time. His politeness and good manners are rare qualities, especially for elite sportspeople in their dealings with the press. Sastre is still within striking distance of the lead in the Vuelta a España although he has not been the strongest climber in the race. Despite this, he has vowed to fight all the way to Madrid. Cyclingnews spoke to Sastre on rest day 2.
"I have reached the last week of the Vuelta in good condition," said Sastre. "I am calm, I am relaxed; things are okay. The team is doing fantastic, splendid work and has been super-important to me so far. Now I may need a lot of them because we approach to the final straight and we must `use all the bullets´ to try to win the Vuelta a España. I need to be at 100 percent but I also need of them."
Sastre's chances to attack are in the mountain stages. "Yes, of course," confirmed the CSC rider. "They are the places where differences can appear. I am a rider with the characteristics of a climber; if I have some strength this is where I have to make time gains, where I have to supplant my rivals. Of course, any mountainous stage like the three coming stages is good. Any chance is good."
Sastre intends to choose his terrain carefully when he attacks before the end of the Vuelta. "With my characteristics, to attack on an intermediate climb is crazy because I can not do a race alone against a whole team. There should be some circumstances that are good for me to play a strategy like that. Therefore, at first, it's important to wait until the last moment. That is when races are won and when a real difference can be made. I will try to wait for a promising situation, for a rider to fail, or simply when I find myself feeling strong. I will try to get the maximum performance from my legs in that stage."
