Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Carlos Sastre: ‘Everything is possible in this Giro’, …

Details

Parent Category: Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Category: News 2010

Published on Tuesday, 25 May 2010 15:49

Written by Luca Salvatelli

Carlos Sastre: ‘Everything is possible in this Giro’

Q: How would you characterize this Giro d’Italia so far?

Carlos Sastre: It’s up and down from the start. It started with two crashes and different problems in important moments. I lost about 10 minutes right from the start. Then the stage to L’Aquila changed everything. I got into the breakaway and it gave me hope again in this Giro. Now I’ve lost time in these first two stages in the Dolomites, but I have survived. The GC is quite open. My back is feeling better and my condition is coming up. I’m confident for all possibilities.

Q. How are you chances for the final week?

CS: I have the motivation for the final week. I am feeling good and the last week of a grand is always very good for me. I am an endurance man. We have two hard mountain stages and this gives me a special motivation. Everything is possible in this Giro.

Q. Who do you see as the strongest candidates for the podium for the final week?

CS: Ivan Basso, Cadel Evans, Alexander Vinokourov, Vincenzo Nibali and Michele Scarponi. Ivan is the strongest right now, and Evans is very close. Vino is always fighting. Maybe Nibali spent some energy in his stage victory Saturday that cost him Sunday. Scarponi has been very good so far, but he always seems to have a bad day.

Q. How is your condition different in this year’s Giro compared to last year’s?

CS: Last year I did enough racing to come into the Giro to be strong right from the beginning. This year, I had a big break and did fewer races before the Giro. I had a different preparation for this Giro. I said right at the beginning of the Giro that I was a little out of top condition, that I wanted to progress through the race, but I didn’t count on having all the problems I had at the beginning of the race.

Q: When you lost 10 minutes in the first half of the Giro, did you ever lose your motivation?

CS: Never. I never threw in the towel, never lost the motivation to race. I had some really bad luck in the first week. The crashes came when I was in good position, not if I was at the back. There was nothing I could do. The crashes happened right in front of me. I always said the race finishes in Verona. It’s a three-week race and a lot can happen in the last week. This Giro should have a strong man win, but maybe a smart man can win, too.

Q: How is this Giro different than last year’s?

CS: Every day has been like racing a spring classic. One day it was like Paris-Roubaix, then Amstel Gold, then Liège. We will see what happens in the last week. Every day there is something interesting. There is only one day, to Brescia, that is ‘tranquilo.’ The climbs in the final week are better for me. The climbs over the weekend were more explosive. The stages suit me better.

Australian team for Junior Road World Championships

Cycling Australia is pleased to announce the men's long team and the women's final team to contest the 2010 UCI Junior Road World Championships being staged in Offida, Italy from 5 to 8 August.

Junior Men - Long Team*

David EDWARDS (Tolga, QLD 21.04.1993)

Damien HOWSON (Greenwith, SA 13.08.1992)

Jay McCARTHY (Maryborough, QLD 08.09.1992)

Dale PARKER (Nairne, SA 12.05.1992) Time Trial only

Sauel SPOKES (Tamworth, NSW 16.04.1992)

Calvin WATSON (Frankston, VIC 06.01.1993)

Junior Women - Final Team

Jessica ALLEN (Doubleview, WA 17.04.1993)

Amy CURE (Penguin, TAS 31.12.1992) Time Trial only

Stephanie HANSEN (Brighton, VIC 08.08.1993)

Sinead NOONAN (Somerton Park, SA 20.02.1992)

Maddison VIT (Atherton, QLD 19.07.1993)

Final selection of the four men to start in the road race and the second rider to start the time trial will be made by 1 August after a series of international events in Europe.

As per the selection policy appeals against non-selection must be lodged with Cycling Australia no later than Friday 4 June.

The 13 rider team for the 2010 UCI Junior Track World Championships being held in Montichiari, Italy from 11 to 15 August was announced in February and is listed below for reference.

Australian Team - 2010 UCI Junior Track World Championships

Edward BISSAKER (Forrest ACT, 23.07.1992)

Matthew GLAETZER (Paradise SA, 24.08.1992)

Jamie GREEN (Wagga Wagga NSW, 09.12.1992)

Maddison HAMMOND (Whittlesea VIC, 08.01.1992)

Jordan KERBY (Hervey Bay QLD, 15.08.1992)

Jackson LAW (Balgownie NSW, 02.02.1993)

Mitchell LOVELOCK - FAY (Bungendore NSW, 12.01.1992)

Dale PARKER (Nairne SA, 12.05.1992)

Michaela ANDERSON (Ballajura WA, 14.08.1992)

Amy CURE (Penguin TAS, 13.12.1992)

Isabella KING (Applecross WA, 09.04.1992)

Adele SYLVESTER (Hawthorn VIC, 02.11.1993)

Holly WILLIAMS (Inglewood WA, 01.09.1992)

Pendrel takes the World Cup lead in Offenburg

Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro Team) took the women's victory and the overall lead for the World Cup in this weekends’ Cross Country race in Offenburg, Germany.

Canadian Pendrel dominated the women's race, leading her American teammate Georgia Gould for the first two laps of the five lap race before dropping her on the third to solo in for her first European World Cup win, and the third World Cup victory of her career.

The bikes of both riders are fully equipped with SHIMANO XTR components, as well as a PRO (XCR Series) handlebar, stem, seat post and grips.