Carlos Sastre of Spain reaches into the crowd as he celebrates during a victory lap after winning the Tour de France cycling race in Paris, France, yesterday. - Ap
PARIS (AP):
The final act of the 2008 Tour de France was not the idyllic ride down the Champs-Elysees for winner Carlos Sastre, but yet another announcement that a rider was caught doping.
By the finish on the Champs-Elysees, Sastre won by 58 seconds from Australia's Cadel Evans, runner-up for the second straight year. Bernhard Kohl of Austria was 1:13 back in third, the second-tightest podium finish in the 105-year-old race.
Sastre crossed arms and butted helmets affectionately with CSC teammate Stuart O'Grady as they crossed the line behind Gert Steegmans of Belgium, who won the 21st and final stage in a sprint.
Sastre was then surrounded by his family after getting off his bike.
"It's very moving," Sastre said, hugging his two children.
Third win
This is the third straight year a Spaniard captured the Tour. Alberto Contador won last year and wasn't allowed to defend his title and Oscar Pereiro inherited the 2006 title lost by American Floyd Landis in a doping scandal.
That the drugs bust involved a Kazakh rider who was never in contention didn't matter: It once again left a sour aftertaste at cycling's premier event.
Until yesterday's finale, the race had gone 10 days without a doping scandal - three others had already marred the three-week race. Dmitriy Fofonov 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, known mainly as a strong climber, finished 19th on the Tour, 28 minutes, 31 seconds after Sastre.
Word of Fofonov's failed test came as some teams were still riding farewell laps on the Champs-Elysees. It compounded the damage of positive tests for the banned blood booster EPO - cycling's designer drug - on Italy's Riccardo Ricco and Spaniards Manuel Beltran and Moises Duenas Nevado.
Improvement
Better yet, the race improved as a spectacle after the Ricco bust. As racers began three treks through the Alps by riding into Italy in the 15th stage, five riders were within 49 seconds of then-leader Frank Schleck of Luxembourg - the last of them Sastre.
That was when the 33-year-old Spaniard, who has six top-10 Tour finishes, took over. The dramatic climax for him came in the last and most punishing day in the Alps in Stage 17, which he won and took the prized yellow jersey off Schleck - his CSC teammate.
Sastre had one final big hurdle: Saturday's time trial. Evans, known as an ace in the discipline, was regarded as a favourite to recover the yellow jersey that he seized in the Pyrenees - but had lost to Schleck.
Sastre knew he needed the time trial of his life to hold a 1:34 lead against the Australian and he got it. Evans made up only 29 seconds against the Spaniard, paving the way for his victory cruise - champagne in hand - into Paris.
Aware of the doping cloud over cycling, Sastre put it bluntly after his victory appeared certain on Saturday: "I'm clean."
