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PARIS: Spain’s Carlos Sastre wrapped up his maiden
Tour de France triumph here on Sunday following the final stage of
the race into Paris.
Sastre, a 33-year-old climbing
specialist who rides for the CSC team, became the eighth Spaniard to
win the race’s yellow jersey and the third consecutively after
Oscar Pereiro (2006) and Alberto Contador (2007).
“I’ve dreamt of this since I
was a child,” said an emotional Sastre, who was joined by his wife
and two children, Claudia and Yeday.
Silence-Lotto’s Cadel Evans was
runner-up for the second consecutive year, the Australian finishing
1 minute and 5 second behind Sastre after failing to make inroads in
a 1 minute and 34 second deficit to the Spaniard in the penultimate
stage time trial.
A surprise third place went to
Gerolsteiner’s Bernhard Kohl of Austria, who stepped onto the
podium in Paris wearing the polka dot jersey for the race’s
“King of the Mountains”.
“To find myself both on the
podium and with the polka dot jersey is incredible,” said Kohl,
who secured his jersey before the final climb of the race.
Sastre’s CSC team had cause for
further celebration, having topped the teams’ classification and
seen Andy Schleck win the white jersey for the best placed rider
aged 25 and under.
Considered a future yellow jersey
contender, Schleck is keen to keep his feet on the ground.
“I still have plenty of work to
do,” said the 23-year-old, a runner-up at last year’s Giro
d’Italia.
“The white jersey wasn’t my
objective this year, working for the team was. But next year I want
to come back with better form.”
Schleck’s older brother
Frank finished in sixth place overall having worn the yellow jersey
for two days in the Alps.
Rabobank sprinter Oscar Freire
meanwhile made history by becoming the first Spaniard to win the
race’s green jersey for the points classification.
Freire, who also won the 14th
stage, topped the points classification ahead of Germany’s former
six-time winner Erik Zabel. Freire made sure of keeping the jersey
with a third place finish in the sprint behind Gerald Ciolek and
final stage winner Gert Steegmans of Belgium.
--AFP
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