Tour de France winner will race with Menchov next year
Carlos Sastre (Image credit: Sonja Csury)
Despite being left out of the UCI's published list of registered riders for team Geox-TMC, Carlos Sastre is adamant that he will race for the Italian registered team in 2011.
Only fifteen riders including co-leader Denis Menchov were listed on the team's roster on the UCI web site, but according to Sastre his name is missing due to a technical issue related to his contract and has nothing to do with speculation in the Italian press that he is on his way out of the team.
The UCI changed certain clauses within rider contracts earlier in the year, meaning that Sastre is now forced to go through the UCI’s protocol for a second time.
“There’s no problem. I have a contract with Geox but the UCI changed the contract procedure. We signed things very early in August and submitted it but we’ve had to do it again and it will be ready by the end of the year. That is the reason why my name is not on the lists.”
With his contract not ratified by the UCI will the 2008 Tour de France winner jump ship? The team were already denied a ProTeam licence for 2011 and Cyclingnews reported last week that Mauro Gianetti had been sidelined by the appointment of Alvaro Crespi at the head of the team. However Sastre is adamant that he will line up in Geox colours next season.
“Of course I’ll be with Geox. It’s just a rumour. There’s no problem with Geox, I’ll be with them next year and I have my flight booked for the first training camp at the start of the year. It’s just some documents that need sorting.”
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
