Sastre relishes facing Armstrong in Giro

By RAF CASERT STRASBOURG, France
Other Sports News, AP - 2 months ago

Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre will be going head-to-head with Lance Armstrong at the Giro d'Italia next year.

With Armstrong still undecided on competing in the Tour, the Giro guarantees at least one major race featuring both the reigning Tour champion and the seven-time winner.

Sastre had previously been uncommitted on the Giro.

"The Giro d'Italia will be my first important goal. I will be ready for the start," the Spaniard said in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press.

Sastre said he would use the Giro as more than just a warmup for the defense of his Tour title.

"If I go to the Giro it is not just for training," he said.

And with Armstrong there, it will give him extra motivation.

"To have Lance in front of me and to try to beat him is really nice," Sastre said. "It will be his first Giro d'Italia, and there is where I will have an advantage over him. It is my fourth Giro."

Sastre, who was on a charity tour for World Diabetes Day at the European Parliament, will start preparing for next season during his new team's first strategy session in two weeks.

Sastre has switched to the Cervelo TestTeam from CSC.

While he starts from scratch, Armstrong is joining an Astana team with Giro, Tour and Spanish Vuelta winner Alberto Contador, Germany's Andreas Kloeden, American veteran Levi Leipheimer and top support rider Yaroslav Popovych. It is considered by far the strongest multistage team.

"I don't care what the rest of the world wants to do with their team," Sastre said. "I take care of my team, my teammates."

Sastre has confidence in his new teammates, who should carry him to the vital stretches high in the mountains of the Giro and Tour.

Among his support riders are Australia's Simon Gerrans, who won a mountain stage in this year's Tour de France, and Xavier Florencio, who won the 2006 Clasica San Sebastian.

"We have a competitive team," Sastre said. "The team is new but it will be really strong."

Beyond the Giro, he said defending his yellow jersey in July at the Tour remains his biggest goal.