Sastre just plain selfish

[ttrider]

I think hes a disgrace from what the cyclingnews article said with him being forced to go to the tour. He shouldnt have to think about it he should just do it. Cervelo bought him as there markee name and expect a lot of tv exposure etc from him as well as results. So far this year he has basically done nothing, 1 event pre Giro where he was nowhere then donated a 12 min advantage in the giro only to be so woefully out of form to blow even a podium! (and no stage wins) so what exactly are Cervelo paying him for surely his pride alone would make him do the tour without having to be asked he should have been pushing for his inclusion in the team. Cervelo must be fairly annoyed with their lack of return from him and despite liking Sastre i find this selfish to not volunteer to ride the tour or suisse and dauphine for that matter to begin to rectify his dreadful start to the year

 

[theyoungest]

Maybe you should read up a little on what happened to Sastre during the Giro that made his performance less than stellar.

 

[ttrider]

yeh he had a bad back he should try his hardest to recover and 5 weeks for a back is plenty and do the tour

 

[Barrus]

yeh he had a bad back he should try his hardest to recover and 5 weeks for a back is plenty and do the tour

But not after that giro, at least I don't think it will be enough, it would be better for Cervelo to wait with him and let him contest the vuelta, where he at least would have a chance

 

[falcon]

At what level of form would you expect from him if forced to ride, given his condition. Is it still worth it. Given his age he should focus building his condition and energy for the other grand tours. I think that is what his experience and body is telling him.

 

[icefire]

The list of teams invited to the Vuelta is about to be published. If Sastre confirms his presence in the Tour before the list is official, Cervélo isn't likely to be invited to the Vuelta.

 

[Dribler]

Nearly all the publicity Cervelo gets is due to Carlito. I am one of those who follows him and would not give Cervelo much attention if it wasn't for Sastre. I hope he will be at the Tour as it suits him but he has to do what is best for his physical condition.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

Nearly all the publicity Cervelo gets is due to Carlito. I am one of those who follows him and would not give Cervelo much attention if it wasn't for Sastre. I hope he will be at the Tour as it suits him but he has to do what is best for his physical condition.

2 words: Haussler, Hushovd

 

[saganftw]

give the guy a break,for past number of years he s been the most consistent rider in the peloton when it comes to GT...i dont think there is rider with more top 10 finishes than him,and he said last season was very exhausting he did a lot of work for cervelo as the main guy both on and off the bike...im not surprised he needs more time to get back into racing mode not to mention hes 35(??),if im in charge at cervelo i would go TdF with hushovd (is he still there?) and some other guys trying to win stages rather than forcing a rider to ride for what -top 15 maybe

he could target Vuelta coz many of top riders are already having long season,its good chance for him to take home GT for himself

 

[Publicus]

Carlos is going to be super-motivated at the Tour. Super-motivated.

EDIT: Co-sign saganftw's post above this one.

 

[hfer07]

I think hes a disgrace from what the cyclingnews article said with him being forced to go to the tour. He shouldnt have to think about it he should just do it. Cervelo bought him as there markee name and expect a lot of tv exposure etc from him as well as results. So far this year he has basically done nothing, 1 event pre Giro where he was nowhere then donated a 12 min advantage in the giro only to be so woefully out of form to blow even a podium! (and no stage wins) so what exactly are Cervelo paying him for surely his pride alone would make him do the tour without having to be asked he should have been pushing for his inclusion in the team. Cervelo must be fairly annoyed with their lack of return from him and despite liking Sastre i find this selfish to not volunteer to ride the tour or suisse and dauphine for that matter to begin to rectify his dreadful start to the year

Is evident your lack of information-FOA Cervelo asked Sastre to join/venture with them in the formation of the team-he wasn't bought out-he quit CSC-Saxo.
Second:he's one of the few riders who can ride two (2) GT the same year-the same way he's done it for the last 6 years. in fact- this 3rd place & two stage wins in last year's Giro, gave Cervelo an enormous publicity in Europe, where the company was aiming to break through with their bikes.....
as far as him not riding the dauphine or the toSuisse...he just finished the Giro, for god's sake!!! he needs to rest!!! you don't see Basso & Evans riding those races either, do you?

So think again about being selfish before you post that garbage...

2 words: Haussler, Hushovd

Agreed-but then again: Why Cervelo is "asking/making" Carlito to ride the tour, having already two other big names to cover for him?

 

[pedaling squares]

Why Cervelo is "asking/making" Carlito to ride the tour, having already two other big names to cover for him?

Does anyone have an update on Hushovd's recovery from the broken clavicle? Cervelo might be bringing Sastre in to try for a stage or two in the event that Hushovd cannot produce. Too bad, I'd hoped to see him go for the Vuelta, but I see where Cervelo is coming from. Le tour is their bread and butter.

 

[Angliru]

Sastre isn't intending on riding for much longer and I would think that having missed the Vuelta last year after riding the Giro and the Tour, he would like to give his home country's grand tour at least another try. If Cervelo puts too much pressure on him he's likely to retire after this season instead of going for one more year.

Sastre is the ironman of the gc elite. I can't think of any of the current gc contenders that have ever ridden all 3 grand tours in one year like Sastre has done. The OP is apparently quite unfamilar with Sastre and his background in the sport. One couldn't find a more selfless, dedicated, team-oriented rider in the peloton. For me, Sastre is one to be emulated and admired, not torn down.

 

[tgsgirl]

Does anyone have an update on Hushovd's recovery from the broken clavicle? Cervelo might be bringing Sastre in to try for a stage or two in the event that Hushovd cannot produce. Too bad, I'd hoped to see him go for the Vuelta, but I see where Cervelo is coming from. Le tour is their bread and butter.

The Mighty Thor is starting in Tour de Suisse.

 

[FKLance]

5 weeks is plenty of time to rest, but it is hard to be on top form after 5 weeks of rest! (try it out yourself) So it must be tricky to rest AND train like Basso is trying to do now. Sastre has raced only 29 days this year. On paper he could be more fresh than Basso, who is planning to do still two one day races at the end of June. Basso has raced 41 days this year.

Sastre to me is interesting because I always get the feeling that he's very anti-scientific, like he's always following only his heart and emotions. I thought it was odd for him to go to Cervelo Test Team, because he's just a simple spanish climber and does not even care to understand about bikes let alone rotor cranks and all that stuff! Have you seen the Cervelo video of the project California bike, while Thor is playing with the bare frame like a little boy, Carlos has that unimpressed look on his face like he just wants to ride it!

That's why i think it's funny that the tour is 3 weeks away and he still does not know if he's gonna ride it while Basso has already gone to altitude..

 

[markrosen]

At what level of form would you expect from him if forced to ride, given his condition. Is it still worth it. Given his age he should focus building his condition and energy for the other grand tours. I think that is what his experience and body is telling him.

I am curtious too. In addition to recovery and lack of additional racing in his legs before the TdF...poor guy is going to suffer like a dog for the first couple of weeks. The amazing thing is his ability to get better as the tour goes on, but it might be cutting it close given his age.

 

[ferryman]

Sastre isn't intending on riding for much longer and I would think that having missed the Vuelta last year after riding the Giro and the Tour, he would like to give his home country's grand tour at least another try. If Cervelo puts too much pressure on him he's likely to retire after this season instead of going for one more year.

Sastre is the ironman of the gc elite. I can't think of any of the current gc contenders that have ever ridden all 3 grand tours in one year like Sastre has done. The OP is apparently quite unfamilar with Sastre and his background in the sport. One couldn't find a more selfless, dedicated, team-oriented rider in the peloton. For me, Sastre is one to be emulated and admired, not torn down.

Well said that man. And he is a thoroughly decent guy off the bike. I think he is a (unpublicised) patron of a children's hospice in Belgium.

 

[tgsgirl]

Well said that man. And he is a thoroughly decent guy off the bike. I think he is a (unpublicised) patron of a children's hospice in Belgium.

The children's cancer ward of the University of Ghent hospital. He does loads for those kids, without shining a spotlight on himself.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Carlos Sastre probably does as much for charity as anybody in the péloton. He doesn't need to make a song and a dance of it. He's like Ayrton Senna - it didn't matter that people knew he was doing it, just that it was getting done. Carlos is a good guy, one of the nicest in the péloton. Nicer than Isidro Nozal even.

Cervélo probably bank on Tondó getting some rest and doing the late-season charge so are hoping to rely on his excellent early season results to market to Unipublic.

 

[maltiv]

I think hes a disgrace from what the cyclingnews article said with him being forced to go to the tour. He shouldnt have to think about it he should just do it. Cervelo bought him as there markee name and expect a lot of tv exposure etc from him as well as results. So far this year he has basically done nothing, 1 event pre Giro where he was nowhere then donated a 12 min advantage in the giro only to be so woefully out of form to blow even a podium! (and no stage wins) so what exactly are Cervelo paying him for surely his pride alone would make him do the tour without having to be asked he should have been pushing for his inclusion in the team. Cervelo must be fairly annoyed with their lack of return from him and despite liking Sastre i find this selfish to not volunteer to ride the tour or suisse and dauphine for that matter to begin to rectify his dreadful start to the year

Sastre had an unlucky Giro, that's all. Perhaps he should have ridden at least one more stage race before the Giro though. And why would he do the TDF if he feels too tired to be able to perform? Then he should rather recover and focus on the Vuelta, which he has a realistic chance at winning.

I think Sastre is one of the least selfish GC guys, and he seems like a genuinely nice guy to me. He has 13 GT top 10 finishes in 10 years, and in most of them he wasn't even team leader. Awesome stuff.

 

[ferryman]

The children's cancer ward of the University of Ghent hospital. He does loads for those kids, without shining a spotlight on himself.

Thank you for confirming, I couldn't remember the detail. But do remember being suitably humbled when I originally read about it.

 

[Night Rider]

He could target Vuelta coz many of top riders are already having long season,its good chance for him to take home GT for himself

My sentiments exactly, if he’s not feeling like he’s going to do his best effort at the Tour then he should miss it and aim to be at his best for the Vuelta. Cervelo surely must understand it’s not worth taking an unfit rider?

Have they got a younger rider they can focus their efforts on instead? (Cervelo is not really a team I follow)

Or just throw everything at Thor for the green jersey again.

 

[El Oso]

Anybody know if Haussler will be able to ride the Tour since his knee problem came back at the TOC?

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

I think hes a disgrace from what the cyclingnews article said with him being forced to go to the tour. He shouldnt have to think about it he should just do it. Cervelo bought him as there markee name and expect a lot of tv exposure etc from him as well as results. So far this year he has basically done nothing, 1 event pre Giro where he was nowhere then donated a 12 min advantage in the giro only to be so woefully out of form to blow even a podium! (and no stage wins) so what exactly are Cervelo paying him for surely his pride alone would make him do the tour without having to be asked he should have been pushing for his inclusion in the team. Cervelo must be fairly annoyed with their lack of return from him and despite liking Sastre i find this selfish to not volunteer to ride the tour or suisse and dauphine for that matter to begin to rectify his dreadful start to the year

Is this a serious post?

 

[Boeing]

I haven't seen a former GT winner ride harder and longer with more motivation to finish with poor post Podium results than Sastre. He doesn't use injury or illness ans an excuse. He just shows up and rides regardless of GC.

I love this guy and his approach to the sport after His Tour. He takes pride in the ride not the placing and keeps fighting.

War Sastre