Sastre returns home

Carlos Sastre of Team CSC-Saxo Bank, winner of the 2008 Tour de France, is back in his home town of El Barraco, 150 kilometres west of Madrid. After a series of post-Tour criteriums in Belgium and the Netherlands, the Spaniard arrived in Madrid airport on Wednesday evening. In his home town of El Barraco, a small community of 2000 inhabitants, masses of spectators had gathered to greet their champion.

From the balcony of the town hall, Sastre dedicated his victory to "all of El Barraco, to Ávila and the whole of the province." The Spaniard will be honoured with a Gold Medal of Honours of the province in September, and see a street in El Barraco bear his name soon.