Cervelo asks Sastre to ride the Tour

Cervelo TestTeam wants Carlos Sastre to ride the Tour de France this summer. The Spaniard had earlier indicated he wanted to concentrate on the Giro d'Italia this year, but after his poor showing there, the team wants him to try the next Grand Tour.

Sastre, who finished third overall in the Giro in 2009, had hoped to go for the overall win this year. However, he crashed three times in the race and the resulting injuries hampered his chances. He finished eighth overall.

As recently as May 30, Sastre was undecided as to his next race. “All I want to do now is recover, let everything go back to normal and start thinking about the next challenge, which I'm still not sure what will be,” he said on his personal website.

On Monday, however, the team announced that it had told the 2008 Tour de France winner that they expected him to ride the Tour.

Cervélo TestTeam directeur sportif Philippe Mauduit told Cyclingnews that the rider had been asked to ride the Tour, but that Sastre asked for more time to make his decision.

"Of course we are hoping that Carlos can ride the Tour de France, but his health is still our first priority," said the team's general manager, Joop Alberda. "For a three-week Tour, a rider must be in top shape and we will definitively take no risk on the health of the athlete. We have to wait for the green light from our medical staff."

Pending the outcome of that medical assessment later this week, Sastre and the team will make an announcement on his Tour participation. Until then, he is not expected to ride any races, including the Spanish national championships at the end of this month.