Carlos Sastre

[Gav1983]

Just wondering what all you guys think of Sastre? I know a lot of you will say he was doped for his win in the TDF last year, but I've heard from a reliable source in pro cycling thathe's clean as a whistle...... I'm also struggling to think of any rumours or stories I've heard him associated with.

 

[craig1985]

I've heard nothing in regards to Sastre being up to no good. So far I give him the benefit of the doubt and say he is clean.

 

[elapid]

Likewise. I like to live in a semi-fantasy world where I just enjoy the racing and the feats and pretend that no one is doping until they get caught. Sastre's stage win on Alpe d'Huez last year was a great team effort where he had to do very little work throughout the whole tour except for the last 10 km up a mountain. However, it was a beautiful stage to watch for me with CSC/Saxo Bank men taking huge pulls and putting the other teams into difficulty, and then the spoiling tactics of the Schleck brothers. Then Sastre's win on Mont Petrano in this year's Giro was just guts and glory. Good luck to him on today's stage to Mt. Vesuvius.

 

[Animal]

I like the semi-fantasy world too.

Sastre seems like a good guy. And he never looks supremely in control when he's on the attack in the mountains which I like. He suffers.

(Though that doesn't measn much I know, I thought the same about Mancebo)

 

[Bala Verde]

I like the semi-fantasy world too.

Sastre seems like a good guy. And he never looks supremely in control when he's on the attack in the mountains which I like. He suffers.

(Though that doesn't measn much I know, I thought the same about Mancebo)

or Kohl, and even Ully...

besides looking like an genuinely affable guy, I don't think he is on something.

 

[TRDean]

Fantasy world here too...

The reason I hold out hope that Sastre is clean is because he has never really had that meteoric rise like a Kohl, Ricco, etc. He has always been around but never really strong enough. My hope is that he won last year because the peleton is cleaner which allowed his true talents to show. I feel the same way about Menchov. That being said I hope neither of them disappoint with a positive in the future!!

 

[luckyboy]

I've always thought Sastre to be clean.



Who would you say was clean and wasn't out of the Giro top ten?


1 Denis Menchov
2 Danilo Di Luca
3 Franco Pellizotti
4 Ivan Basso
5 Carlos Sastre
6 Levi Leipheimer
7 Michael Rogers
8 Stefano Garzelli
9 Tadej Valjavec
10 Marzio Bruseghin

 

[Pietro]

I've always thought Sastre to be clean.



Who would you say was clean and wasn't out of the Giro top ten?


1 Denis Menchov
2 Danilo Di Luca
3 Franco Pellizotti
4 Ivan Basso
5 Carlos Sastre
6 Levi Leipheimer
7 Michael Rogers
8 Stefano Garzelli
9 Tadej Valjavec
10 Marzio Bruseghin

Who cares. They all have doctors who know the 'rules' inside and out. They all dance around the gray area of 'doping' with all the stuff they take to ride and recover. Grand tours are tough, the pros make it fascinating, go watch and enjoy.

 

[Snake8]

I've always thought Sastre to be clean.



Who would you say was clean and wasn't out of the Giro top ten?


1 Denis Menchov
2 Danilo Di Luca
3 Franco Pellizotti
4 Ivan Basso
5 Carlos Sastre
6 Levi Leipheimer
7 Michael Rogers
8 Stefano Garzelli
9 Tadej Valjavec
10 Marzio Bruseghin

Maybe 4-7 only b/c 4 looks human again and I think would be stupid to get caught again, though if he continues to suck wind I could see him being tempted especially if LA starts clobbering the peleton in the TdF, 5 for the aforementioned reasons, 6 probably has, not sure about now...Menchov just a gut feeling, DeLuca w/o a doubt (albeit w/o evidence) and Pelli, I just dont really trust Liqui riders. You know just thinkig about this is confusing as i realize I could just as easily say all of them or none of them, and that I pick and choose just as much based on who I like and dont like...OK, I am going back to fantasy land where all the riders are clean unless proven otherwise....

 

[lookkg386]

Genuine nice guy of the peleton, always felt no asterix needed next to his wins...

 

[Escarabajo]

The reason I hold out hope that Sastre is clean is because he has never really had that meteoric rise like a Kohl, Ricco, etc. He has always been around but never really strong enough. My hope is that he won last year because the peleton is cleaner which allowed his true talents to show. I feel the same way about Menchov. That being said I hope neither of them disappoint with a positive in the future!!

I agree on the Sastre part. Not sure about what you said about Menchov. As a support point I'd like to see the power outputs for Sastre in the Hardest Mountains of the Tour the France. Other than that he is one of my favorite riders. He is Mr. consistent no matter which team he rides for. He always tries to attack. Never scared of the dominance of the Dicovery or US Postal teams.

 

[franciep10]

I've always thought Sastre to be clean.



Who would you say was clean and wasn't out of the Giro top ten?


1 Denis Menchov
2 Danilo Di Luca
3 Franco Pellizotti
4 Ivan Basso
5 Carlos Sastre
6 Levi Leipheimer
7 Michael Rogers
8 Stefano Garzelli
9 Tadej Valjavec
10 Marzio Bruseghin

I don't think any of them are totally clean.

 

[BroDeal]

No one rides through the era that Sastre has ridden, places in the top ten of GTs, and stays clean. He has been a pro for a long time, starting at a time when most teams had doping programs. I think it is fantasy to suppose that someone like him is clean.

He seems like a good bloke though.

 

[Bala Verde]

No rides through the era that Sastre has ridden, places in the top ten of GTs, and stays clean. He has been a pro for a long time, starting at a time when most teams had doping programs. I think it is fantasy to suppose that someone like him is clean.

He seems like a good bloke though.

He could have learned from the best... 5 years for ONCE (1997-2001) working over those years with the likes of Saiz, Zulle, Jaja, Bruyneel, Mauri, Guttierez Palacios, Luttenberger, Olano, Belokki, Jaksche while then switching another 6 years to CSC (2002-2008) under Riis and with Hamilton, Rasmussen, Jaja, Luttenberger, Basso, Gusev, Jaksche, Julich (Sorensen; F Schleck)...

hmm same names are showing up, just riding for different teams, are they incrowd?

If associations with teams other riders were sufficient reason to judge...

 

[BroDeal]

He could have learned from the best... 5 years for ONCE (1997-2001) working over those years with the likes of Saiz, Zulle, Jaja, Bruyneel, Mauri, Guttierez Palacios, Luttenberger, Olano, Belokki, Jaksche while then switching another 6 years to CSC (2002-2008) under Riis and with Hamilton, Rasmussen, Jaja, Luttenberger, Basso, Gusev, Jaksche, Julich (Sorensen; F Schleck)...

hmm same names are showing up, just riding for different teams, are they incrowd?

If associations with teams other riders were sufficient reason to judge...

He could have been like Contador. You know, the one lone rider on the team who was not participating in the program. We should get Bruyneel to look Sastre in the eye to make sure he is clean.

 

[Bala Verde]

He could have been like Contador. You know, the one lone rider on the team who was not participating in the program. We should get Bruyneel to look Sastre in the eye to make sure he is clean.

haha good one. Let's get an impartial visionair slash seeer to decide on Sastre's case.

 

[hfer07]

He could have learned from the best... 5 years for ONCE (1997-2001) working over those years with the likes of Saiz, Zulle, Jaja, Bruyneel, Mauri, Guttierez Palacios, Luttenberger, Olano, Belokki, Jaksche while then switching another 6 years to CSC (2002-2008) under Riis and with Hamilton, Rasmussen, Jaja, Luttenberger, Basso, Gusev, Jaksche, Julich (Sorensen; F Schleck)...

hmm same names are showing up, just riding for different teams, are they incrowd?

If associations with teams other riders were sufficient reason to judge...

Looks like this time around he broke the pattern, since his new team was just put together-- unless Van Poppel has his "hidden" program, like Saiz & Riss-- but then again--how could Sastre pull two stage victories in the Giro with a new team-- if he was "dirty" and dependable on the "medical program" from the previous teams?... and who could have he won the only TDF that was not controled by UCI useless doping controls?

A rider like Carlos Sastre, whom his career spans 11 years, with a consistent progression in performance & evolution, with few but convincing wins, and most of all, a respectfully acclaimed nickname "mister clean" established by the peloton, the media & the criticts... that says it all

 

[Escarabajo]

Looks like this time around he broke the pattern, since his new team was just put together-- unless Van Poppel has his "hidden" program, like Saiz & Riss-- but then again--how could Sastre pull two stage victories in the Giro with a new team-- if he was "dirty" and dependable on the "medical program" from the previous teams?... and who could have he won the only TDF that was not controled by UCI useless doping controls?

A rider like Carlos Sastre, whom his career spans 11 years, with a consistent progression in performance & evolution, with few but convincing wins, and most of all, a respectfully acclaimed nickname "mister clean" established by the peloton, the media & the criticts... that says it all

I never heard about the "Mr Clean" nickname. I know about the "Mr 60%" nickname though. Can you expand on this if you can?
On a second note, according to Mr. Big Boat (Who is gaining credibility during these times) you don't need an organize team medical treatment. You just need to work with one doctor. Look at Armstrong, Ulrich, etc.

 

[BigBoat]

All of those riders you mentioned are doped. But they were not equally doped.

"So, the magic of yellow has worked again and turned Carlos Sastre into a time triallist after all. Cadel Evans was being seen as an automatic winner of the Tour today. After all all he had to do was bridge a gap of 94 seconds against a man he beat by 153 at a similar stage of the race last year."
-Phil Ligget

The magic of yellow Phil are you sure..... You mean the magic of 400cc packed red cells right before that TT... If Evans had gotten a blood refill like his competitor did Evans would have easily won that Tour!

 

[Escarabajo]

All of those riders you mentioned are doped. But they were not equally doped.

"So, the magic of yellow has worked again and turned Carlos Sastre into a time triallist after all. Cadel Evans was being seen as an automatic winner of the Tour today. After all all he had to do was bridge a gap of 94 seconds against a man he beat by 153 at a similar stage of the race last year."
-Phil Ligget

The magic of yellow Phil are you sure..... You mean the magic of 400cc packed red cells right before that TT... If Evans had gotten a blood refill like his competitor did Evans would have easily won that Tour!

So Evans was clean?

 

[mr. tibbs]

So Evans was clean?

Now, now, Escarabajo--let's not jump to conclusions...

 

[BigBoat]

So Evans was clean?

There's no way Evans was clean with millions of Euros on the line... But certainly didnt get refill for the last TT. Would you not dope and get paid $40,000 or dope and make $4,000,000?! He was already jacked to some degree... Too much ability and potential to pass that up. But maybe he his doctors or team support couldnt "do as much" for him as Sastre's team could.

 

[Anonymous]

So Evans was clean?

if evans is doping, i would highly recommend he gets a new doctor.. hes being fobbed off with placebos..

 

[Anonymous]

I've always thought Sastre to be clean.



Who would you say was clean and wasn't out of the Giro top ten?
2 Danilo Di Luca

i actually think menchov is clean.. di luca, i love the guy, his riding style, but i find it almost impossible to believe hes not got some magic beans somewhere.. i dunno.. i dont care anymore.. just gimme some of what they are having cos im actually becomming immune to the D word now..

 

[hfer07]

I never heard about the "Mr Clean" nickname. I know about the "Mr 60%" nickname though. Can you expand on this if you can?
On a second note, according to Mr. Big Boat (Who is gaining credibility during these times) you don't need an organize team medical treatment. You just need to work with one doctor. Look at Armstrong, Ulrich, etc.

Carlos Sastre's nickname: Don Limpio=Mister clean
It was given to him since riding back in ONCE-- it's everywhere written abroad the media.

As far as him working with a "doctor"-well, he only knows his name and he's paying him well to remain unknown --the reality is that his name hasn't been linked to none of the Dirty doctors or doping rings around in Spain,Italy, Austria, or Danish at all--that's the positive side.

for the record: I'm aware what has to be done to get results in cycling, but IMHO Carlos seems to me not to DEPEND or to be HOOKED on heavy dope to perform, but rather he uses it to get the edge to get his top level & of course to deal with the level of the others..

I'd say it this way-- He's the "cleanest" among the Dirty level played if the peloton