Tour de France - Carlos Sastre wins on Le Alpe

Carlos Sastre won the big stage of this year’s Tour de France - after 210 kilometers from Embrun to the legendary finish at the top of Alpe d'Huez the Spanish rider was able to celebrate both the victory and the Yellow Jersey, which he took over from teammate Fränk Schleck, who is now second in the general classification.

Sastre in yellow - Pic fotoreporter sirotti

"What a fantastic team! I’m almost lost for words. They were amazing and both our GC riders and the rest of the guys made an absolutely world class effort out there today," said a jubilant Bjarne Riis after the stage.

The day’s result puts Sastre 1.24 ahead of Fränk Schleck, while Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner) and Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) are 1.33 and 1.34 behind "Carlito" as Sastre is called by his teammates. This is the first time in his career that Sastre gets to wear the Yellow Jersey in Tour de France and it was his second victory in the world’s greatest cycling race.

Sastre said - "I owe it all to the team. They all worked so hard for me - from Nicki and Stuart on the first mountains to Fabian, Volodymir, Jens and Kurt on the next ones and of course also Andy and Fränk, who not only allowed me to attack early but afterwards fought like tigers so I could get a decent sized gap."

Andy Schleck was third in the stage and increased his lead in the Best Young Rider’s competition considerably.

Results
1 Carlos Sastre 11 Team CSC Saxo Bank 6h 07' 58"
2 Samuel Sanchez 27 Euskaltel - Euskadi 6h 10' 01" @ 02' 03"
3 Andy Schleck 16 Team CSC Saxo Bank 6h 10' 01" @ 02' 03"

General Classification
1 Carlos Sastre 11 Team CSC Saxo Bank 74h 39' 03"
2 Frank Schleck 17 Team CSC Saxo Bank 74h 40' 27" @ 01' 24"
3 Bernhard Kohl 115 Gerolsteiner 74h 40' 36" @ 01' 33"