Carlos Sastre of CSC-Saxo Bank knows the maillot jaune will be his in Paris as he crosses the finishing line Saturday in Stage 20  of the Tour de France — a 53 kilometers (33 miles) individual time trial between Cerilly and Saint-Amand-Montrond.

(AP Photo/Laurent Rebours)

 TT

TT

TT     

Carlos Sastre, whom I wrongly considered to be too old to contend this year at the Tour de France, sewed up the race on Saturday, with a strong performance in the decisive time trial.

Pre-Tour favourite Cadel Evans of Silence-Lotto needed to beat Sastre by 1:34 in the Stage 20 TT to take the yellow jersey into Paris Sunday, but Sastre rode with the intangible strength that accompanies the maillot jaune and lost only 29 seconds to Evans in the TT.

So, barring a crash in Sunday’s ceremonial final ride into Paris, he’ll win the Tour by 1:05 over Evans, who settles for second for the second year in a row.

“Winning the Tour de France is a dream come true,” letour.com quoted Sastre as saying. “Above all, it’s a special day for the whole CSC-Saxo Bank team. It was impossible to do this without them. It is extremely motivating to know that all the riders were ready to be at my service. I suffered a lot in this time trial because it was essential that I rode ‘a bloc’ (flat out). I went a little bit slower in the final five kilometers.

“Ultimately, I grateful because I knew that I was going to keep the yellow jersey. It was very difficult to retain it but still I managed to do it. Now I’m happy because I have a guarantee that it will all end well tomorrow.

“I’ve prepared better than ever for this race. I arrived at the Tour in the best shape of my career and what has happened is really a dream for every professional. I’m pleased to be a part of the history of the sport with this victory. When I started today I wanted to do a good time trial but if I was able to defend my yellow jersey today it was because of three factors: my mind, my team, my form.

“At this very moment, I think of Jose Maria Jimenez (his brother-in-law and an ex-professional rider who died in 2003) who is the person who I miss the most.”

Joining Sastre on the podium will be surprising Bernhard Kohl of Gerolsteiner, who gained 14 seconds on Sastre in the TT and will finish 1:20 behind him in G.C.

“I would never have expected to see Bernhard [Kohl] finish the Tour as the third best rider,” letour.com quoted Gerolsteiner manager Hans-Michael Holczer as saying. “I was calculating that he’d probably end in fifth or sixth place but I never believed that he would be fourth.”

Kohl has suffered physically for the placement, according to Holczer via letour.com: “Bernhard is in a terrible state after the stage today. We’re looking for a doctor because we’re a little bit concerned at the moment. He was at the point where he is really at the maximum degree of exhaustion.”

Rabobank’s Dennis Menchov and Garmin-Chipotle’s Christian Vande Velde each moved up one spot in the G.C. after the TT, passing Sastre’s CSC-Saxo teammate Frank Schleck. Menchov will finish 2:00 behind Sastre and Vande Velde 3:12 in arrears. Vande Velde had a fabulous TT, finishing fourth — 1:05 behind stage winner Stefan Schumacher of Gerolsteiner.

Schleck, who lost the yellow to Sastre on Alpe d’Huez, had a horrible TT and was passed on the road by Sastre. Schleck started the stage 1:24 behind Sastre and will end up 4:28 behind him in sixth.

Samuel Sanchez, of Euskaltel, Columbia’s Kim Kirchen, Caisse d’Epargne’s Alejandro Valverde and Tadej Valjavec of AG2R -La Mondiale rounded out the top 10, with Kirchen jumping from 11th to eighth by finishing third in the stage — 1:01 behind Schumacher.

Schumacher crushed the TT, covering the 53 kilometer route from Cérilly to Saint-Amand-Montrond in 1:03:50, 21 seconds ahead of world time trial champ Fabian Cancellara.

Both American teams shined in the TT, with Garmin-Chipotle putting four riders in the top 14 and Columbia putting four in the top 18. For Columbia, Vande Velde was fifth, David Millar sixth, Ryder Hesjedal 13th and Danny Pate 14th. For Columbia, Kirchen was third, George Hincapie 10th, Thomas Lovkvist 11th and Tour de Georgie winner Konstantin Sivtsov 18th.

–30–