Season 2004
CSC-Riis Cycling
I arrived at the Tour de France in excellent physical and mental shape; I was ready to tackle the three-week race full of energy. I believe that it was vital for me to overcome the crash that I had at the beginning of the sixth stage, which almost caused me to withdraw from the race. As I commented during the race, I finished this Tour with a bitter taste because even though I finished the race within the top ten.
I would have liked to know how far I could have gone without the injury and pain for the last ten days of the Tour. Nevertheless, I am happy with my results. Because of my injury during the Tour, I could not compete during the month of August.
The best I could do during this period was to get ready for La Vuelta (Tour) of Spain. I was not able to acquire the necessary condition for this race as I had in July. But my persistence and willingness to fight and win something for my fans helped me to be once more in the top ten. In addition, two days before the end of this race, a close person to me passed away. This situation and the accumulated fatigue from the long 2004 season and other personal issues forced me to shorten this season.
After a short break of recovering and getting ready, I went with the rest of the team to Denmark to prepare the 2005 season. There we did something unusual in the cycling world: a two-day military boot camp with the Danish army. It was a tough but important experience in my life. Then we rode our bikes for the first time and continued with our winter preparation. In order to relax my mind, I practiced other sports that also helped to strengthen my body and mind.
|
 .
Carlos, por delante de Valverde y Menchov, subiendo el Alto de Aitana.
Achievements
4º Clásica de Los
Alpes
6º Vuelta a España
3º 21ª etapa Vuelta
5º 5ª etapa Vuelta
6º CRE Vuelta
6º 14ª etapa Vuelta
8º 8ª etapa CRI Vuelta
8º 9ª etapa Vuelta
9º 17ª etapa Vuelta
10º 12ª etapa Vuelta
8º Tour de Francia
5º CRE Tour
5º 12ª etapa Tour
8º 17ª etapa Tour
10º 15ª etapa Tour
10º 16ª etapa Tour
11º Vuelta a
Luxemburgo
14º Dauphiné Libéré |
Sastre, en la crono de Sierra Nevada'04
|
|
 |
| Heras, Luis Pérez, Sastre y Valverde. |
|
