Sastre off to Cervelo - official

by Gemma on Sep 5, 2008 9:55 AM EDT

Full statement not up yet, but a brief announcement has been posted on the CSC-Saxo Bank team site that Sastre is off to the Cervelo test team

http://www.riis-cycling.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=2083

And here's the statement from Sastre's own website:

http://www.carlossastre.com/Noticias_En.html

Looks like he's after a new challenge - which is fair enough, especially at this stage in his career. I figure he's smart enough to know that this was his year to get the victory he wanted and he took that chance - but with the likes of Contador, Andy Schleck and other young riders coming along so quickly he likely wouldn't get the chance again at this point in his career.

I'm sad to see him go (first the bikes, now the team leader) but I wish him luck and hope he enjoys his new venture, even if I'm still slightly in the dark about wha the aims of the new Cervelo team actually are!

Will he be riding the Tour next year - guess we'll have to wait and see... There would be a part of me that would not be happy to see another team wearing the 2-9 numbers when they weren't the ones who rode their asses off getting the win, but I guess that's racing (obviously got no problem with Sastre wearing 1)!

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Comments

C'mon!

Let’s see the new kit already!

by swells on Sep 5, 2008 6:05 AM EDT reply actions

That...

…is the kind of comment I hang around here for. Makes me smile real big.

Never, ever, work with a sprinter.

by Put 'Em in the Gutter on Sep 5, 2008 3:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh yes, the fashion discussions are always much fun!

Please let there be black shorts!

by Albertina on Sep 5, 2008 5:27 PM EDT up reply actions

+10!!!!!

"The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed."

by nikki on Sep 5, 2008 11:23 PM EDT up reply actions

At last.

Officially official.

by Albertina on Sep 5, 2008 6:25 AM EDT reply actions

I think Cervélo have also signed to the Daniels Lloyd and Fleeman from Seán Kelly’s academy squad. Kind of indicates the level the team is aiming at.

pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway

by fmk on Sep 5, 2008 6:27 AM EDT reply actions

Hats off to him

for making a decision not solely based on money. I still hope he gets the money he deserves and isn’t selling himself short. I suspect there is a longer perspective in this contract,perhaps some kind of cooperation with the school his dad runs?

Carlos Sastre - Tour de France winner - Born From Jets

by Jens on Sep 5, 2008 8:13 AM EDT reply actions

+1

i am liking this decision – i hope he gets the money, too, but he sure is looking like a class act. i am finding the development of this concept and team a lot more interesting than, say, the Tinkusha project…

by nicknorco on Sep 5, 2008 10:24 AM EDT up reply actions

Cyclingnews.com says Scott Sutherland will go too.

by Christopher See on Sep 5, 2008 9:59 AM EDT reply actions

Sutherland going as well...

…sheesh. Sad to see him go too, but I don’t think that will leave too big a hole in the team as Kim Andersen is an excellent DS and maybe Riis will be more visible next year – though it still may be a problem for the likes of the Tour where I get the feeling he still prefers to keep a low profile

by Gemma on Sep 5, 2008 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Big setback for Saxo Bank in April

in my opinion. Sunderland has been the leader for the classics squad with little or no interference from Riis (except for victory celebrations). Hard to see who fills that role.

Carlos Sastre - Tour de France winner - Born From Jets

by Jens on Sep 5, 2008 12:16 PM EDT up reply actions

No reason

Andersen or someone else can’t take over doing that job I wouldn’t have thought. There are enough experienced people on the team to make the adjustment. Indeed Andersen for example will be in charge at Vattenfall on Sunday so I guess we’ll see how he copes with things :)

But in the end I guess only time will tell one way or the other…

by Gemma on Sep 5, 2008 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions

roger hammond is also rumored to be joining the new team

by lyne on Sep 5, 2008 10:04 AM EDT reply actions

if this two guys goes

i will love this team

by semprenaroda on Sep 5, 2008 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions

Anyone know...

…why Hammond was so quiet this year? I really hope he can get back to the front in P-R someday. Columbia just ended up with way too many stars this year… Kinda boggles the mind, doesn’t it.

Never, ever, work with a sprinter.

by Put 'Em in the Gutter on Sep 5, 2008 3:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Most likely

because he’s about 46, with a lot of miles on the chassis. I love him but you can only expect only a few good efforts out of him at this state of his career.

There’s only one guy who can consistently bring it race after race at an advanced (cycling) age, and his name is Ete and he’s not of this earth.

"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum."

by Drew Davis on Sep 5, 2008 4:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Two

Ekimov. Give him a week to train. Max.

"If writing too much about the Classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."

by Chris Fontecchio on Sep 5, 2008 4:19 PM EDT up reply actions

+1

by Bruce Suomi on Sep 5, 2008 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions

I meant currently racing

Eki is not suiting up far as I know. But yes, when he was riding he could be counted on no matter what race. He was the Russian Zabel.

"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum."

by Drew Davis on Sep 6, 2008 7:09 AM EDT up reply actions

I wish him a lot of luck

My appreciation for him has really grown over the years and I have a lot of respect for the quiet, classy way he’d do whatever the team needed him to do. I like the way he’s handled the spotlight that came with his TdF success, and hope this move is everything he wants it to be.

by Katiek on Sep 5, 2008 10:39 AM EDT reply actions

wonder if they are going to have internal team testing...

…that is not of just the equipment kind.

As for money, he may have turned down up front cash for Tinkusha, but this deal seems to have more of back end role to it rather than just hired gun for publicity. ’cause lets be honest, he will prob not podium at next years tour.

by humbug1 on Sep 5, 2008 10:44 AM EDT reply actions

AFAIK they will be using the same testing programme as the ladies team, performed by a small Swiss lab.

pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway

by fmk on Sep 5, 2008 10:47 AM EDT up reply actions

Team GB Trade Team?

So it looks like Cervélo’s signing Roger Hammond, Daniel Fleeman and Daniel Lloyd.

Bradley Wiggins is off to Garmin.

Johnathan Bellis has signed for CSC.

Columbia are building around Cavendish, so mush have high hopes he’ll renew at the end of next year.

All of which leaves Dave Brailsford’s much-talked abut Team GB trade team – due for take-off in 2010 – looking like it’ll be hard pressed to find the 20 quality British riders needed to make it a ProContinental Team, let alone the 25 it’ll need if it wants to be a ProTour squad.

pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway

by fmk on Sep 5, 2008 10:52 AM EDT reply actions

I think the timeline for the GB team

is now a 2011 start. There was an interview with DB recently in which he said he wasn’t bothered re all the GB riders signing contracts at the moment as most of them are 2 year deals so would fit in with the new timeline

Cav may well be beyond the GB team reach, but then it is backed by some serious money so you never know…

by Gemma on Sep 5, 2008 12:04 PM EDT up reply actions