Sastre training despite cold
- By Andrew Hood
- Published Feb. 5, 2010
- Updated Feb. 5, 2010 at 2:27 PM UTC
The record cold blasting Spain hasn’t kept 2008 Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre from training hard.
Sastre’s home-base in Ávila in central Spain has endured some of its coldest, snowiest weather in years, but that hasn’t stopped him from putting in miles as he prepares for his 2010 season debut.
“We’re accustomed to train in these temperatures, even though this winter is especially hard,” Sastre said in a press statement. “But, well, with this cold the hams are cured well and I hope it also serves well for my legs.”
The Cervélo captain lives Ávila and trains in the mountains just north of Madrid in Spain’s northern meseta, which has been blasted with record cold, snow, rain and wind.
That hasn’t stopped Sastre from putting in the training miles ahead of his planned season debut at the Volta a Catalunya in March.
“I am making rides of four hours, some days six, with temperatures that sometimes drop below zero (Celsius),” he said. “And every day I have less fat to protect me from the cold. Luckily, the (fabrics) that we use protect us pretty well and conserve the body heat.”
With his season debut not for another several weeks, Sastre says he will continue to train in Spain, as well as test new material and hone his time trial position.
Sastre hasn’t raced since last year’s Tour de France and has pegged the Giro d’Italia as his first season goal.
FILED UNDER: News / No Spoil / Road / Tour de France TAGS: Cervélo TestTeam / Tour de France
Andrew Hood
Hood cut his journalistic teeth at Colorado dailies before the web boom opened the door to European cycling in the mid-1990s. Hood's covered every Tour since 1996 and has been VeloNews' European correspondent since 2002. He lives in Leon, Spain, when he's not chasing bike races.