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Spain's Sastre Claims Crown

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A Tribune wire report

Published: July 28, 2008

PARIS - Carlos Sastre won the Tour de France for the first time as the three-week race ended on the Champs-Elysees, capping a year of Spanish sports success.

The 33-year-old, who rides for the CSC team, is the third successive Spaniard to claim the title. He finished in the main peloton on Sunday's 143-kilometer (89 miles) final stage, in which the overall race leaders tend not to compete for places, leaving sprinters to take the limelight.

"It's a dream come true, I have been waiting so long for this," Sastre told Eurosport. "I thought I could one day win the Tour, but I had to fight for it, get experience, and finally I have done it."

Gert Steegmans of the Quick Step team won the final stage from Etampes, before thousands of spectators, ahead of Gerald Ciolek and Oscar Freire.

Australia's Cadel Evans was runner-up overall for a second straight year, finishing 58 seconds behind Sastre, followed by Austria's Bernhard Kohl at 1 minute 13 seconds. Denis Menchov of Russia, Christian Vande Velde of the United States and Luxembourg's Frank Schleck completed the top six.

"I had some little mistakes but just to be able to continue after the crash in the first week was something I was happy with," Evans said. "To finish second is a good ride. Of course I'd like to win but it's not easy to win the Tour de France."

Sastre's victory in the 105-year-old event is the latest in a run of sporting victories for Spain. Its soccer players won the European Championship last month, the nation's first trophy in the sport in 44 years. Then three weeks ago Rafael Nadal won his first Wimbledon tennis title, beating five-time champion Roger Federer in the final.

Dmitriy Fofonov of Kazakhstan tested positive for a "very heavy dose" of heptaminol after Thursday's 18th stage, said Pierre Bordry, the head of France's anti-doping agency. Fofonov was immediately fired by his Credit Agricole team.

The doping bust was the fourth at this Tour.

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