Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre Candil (pronounced [ˈkaɾ.los ˈsas.tɾe ˈkandil]; born 22 April 1975) is a former Spanish professional road bicycle racer and winner of the 2008 Tour de France. He consistently achieved outstanding results in the Vuelta a España and in the Tour de France. Sastre established himself as a strong and stable climbing specialist, and after working to improve his individual time trial skills, he became a contender for the top GC spots in the Grand Tours. In total, Sastre finished in the top ten of fifteen Grand Tours during his career, and finished on the podium of each of them. Sastre never tested positive for drugs, nor was he implicated in any doping investigation, even though he performed at the top level of cycling.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Carlos Sastre Candil |
| Born | 22 April 1975 Leganés, Spain |
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) |
| Weight | 61 kg (134 lb; 9 st 8 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | All-rounder |
| Professional teams | |
| 1998–2001 | ONCE |
| 2002–2008 | CSC–Tiscali |
| 2009–2010 | Cervélo TestTeam |
| 2011 | Geox–TMC |
| Major wins | |
Grand Tours
| |
Sastre continues to be widely regarded, following the Lance Armstrong affair, as one of the very few 'clean' riders to have won the Tour de France in the period from 1996 to 2013, as he has never been involved in a doping affair. In fact, with respect to doping allegations and admissions that have surrounded Tour winners in recent decades, Sastre has been called "Don Limpio" ("Mr. Clean" in Spanish) by the press and others.