Carlos Sastre

About Carlos Sastre

Carlos Sastre Candil (born 22 April 1975 in Madrid) is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer. Through his consistently improved top 10 results in the Vuelta a España and good showings in the Tour de France, Sastre has established himself as a strong and stable climbing specialist, and after working to improve his individual time trial skills, he has become a potential contender for the top GC spots in the Grand Tours.

He signed his first professional contract in 1997 with Spanish team ONCE. In his five years at ONCE he mostly served as a domestique and only managed a few wins, though he showed his strength as a good mountain rider with a string of good results, most notably winning the mountain competition in the 2000 Vuelta a España.

In 2002 he switched to the Danish Team CSC, where he filled the role of captain in the Vuelta a España and, until 2005, had a free role in the Tour de France. This resulted in the win of the 13th stage of the 2003 Tour de France, which Sastre won with a pacifier in his mouth, as a greeting to his infant daughter. Sastre finished 2:32 minutes ahead of team captain Tyler Hamilton on the stage.