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Spain's Sastre wins Tour de France

  • Story Highlights
  • Spain's Carlos Sastre clinches victory in cycling's Tour de France
  • Cadel Evans of Australia and Austria's Bernhard Kohl finish second and third
  • Gert Steegmans wins the prestigious final stage on the Champs-Elysees
  • Sastre took command of the race on Wednesday's stage to Alpe d'Huez
  • Credit Agricole say Dmitri Fofonov tested positive for banned stimulant
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(CNN) -- Spain's Carlos Sastre won the Tour de France for the first time as he safely negotiated the 21st and final stage into Paris which was won by Gert Steegmans of the Quick Step team.

Sastre crosses the line first at the top of Alpe d'Huez to take the Tour de France yellow jersey.

CSC's Sastre, at 33 the oldest maiden winner of the Tour, finished 58 seconds clear of Cadel Evans of Australia with Austria's Bernhard Kohl claiming the final place on the podium.

Gerolsteiner's Kohl, one of the revelations of the race, won the polka dot King of the Mountains prize, with Oscar Freire of Spain donning the green jersey of points winner.

Sastre, who becomes the third Spanish rider in a row to win cycling's most prestigious race, effectively sealed victory with his fine performance in Saturday's 53 kilometer time trial where he easily countered the challenge of Evans.

"I've dreamt of this since I was a child," said Sastre, who was surrounded by his wife and two children, Claudia and Yeday at the presentations.

"I'm beyond words, to be here with my family is really special."

He had taken the lead in the three-week race with an epic victory on the stage to Alpe d'Huez on Wednesday, forging clear of the main contenders while Evans gave chase in vain.

As the peloton headed into Paris on the 143-kilometer stage from Etampes, Sastre cruised alongside his team car and was handed a glass of champagne by his CSC team boss Bjarne Riis, himself a former Tour winner.

Once the bunch hit the Champs Elysees, the pace and intensity of the racing increased as riders looked for one final chance to grab stage glory in front of the massive crowds in the French capital.

After several breakaway attempts were reeled in by the bunch, it all came down to a dash for the line in the final kilometer, with Steegmans, given a perfect lead out by his teammates, taking the final honors.

He had to hold off a late charge by Gerald Ciolek of the Columbia team, with the consistent Freire in third place.

Sastre, surrounded by teammates, was content to cruise in just behind the main group, conceding seven seconds to Evans, to make the margin of victory less than a minute for the second year in a row.

Fellow Spaniard Alberto Contador was unable to defend his title because his new Astana squad was barred from the Tour because of doping misdemeanors by former team members.

The issue of doping also cast a shadow over this year's race with the Credit Agricole team announcing on the final day that Kazakhstan's Dmitri Fofonov has tested positive for a banned stimulant.

Three other riders were thrown out of the Tour for doping: Riccardo Ricco of Italy, and Spanish duo Manuel Beltran and Moises Duenas Nevado.

Sastre's CSC team topped the team classification and had further cause for celebration as Luxembourg's Andy Schleck won the white jersey for the highest placed rider aged 25 and under.

Schleck's older brother Frank finished in sixth place overall having initially taken the yellow jersey from Evans -- conceding it to Sastre on the Alpe d'Huez.

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