Sastre back in top form

Spearheading the attack on the often-decisive climb of the Alto de Jaizkibel with Denis Menchov and Iban Mayo, Team CSC's Carlos Sastre appeared to be in a winning position until the final kilometres of the Clasica San Sebastian, a race that eventually saw a relatively unknown Spaniard by the name of Xavier Florencio win in a bunch sprint. Nonetheless, it now appears 31 year-old Sastre has done enough to give himself the green light to ride the upcoming Vuelta a España.

"Carlos was sharp and it was a really good group. Unfortunately, they had headwinds on the flat part towards the finish, so the peloton got an advantage. The whole team did all they could to support Carlos, and we also had the Schleck brothers in the first group," said directeur-sportif Alain Gallopin on team-csc.com.