Haimar's diary

Here's what Haimar wrote on his own website just after the conclusion of the Tour de France, titled "Now I need to recover":

After training and competing for two months, it's finally time to recover. The Tour de France, the great objective of the year, did not work out at all. The first 10 days were not the best for me, but I got better towards the end of the race. I was feeling better in the Alps and managed to get into some breaks.

Speaking of the winner, Carlos Sastre, I have to say that I'm very pleased on his behalf, as he's always been a very constant and humble rider. He had the best team at his disposal this Tour, and he won the race with his strength and consistency in the mountains and in the last time trial. I met Carlos already when I was a junior. At the Vuelta a Bidasoa, for example, he easily beat both me and Mancebo. After that he raced with Banesto, while I raced with Olarra.

I felt good in my last race, the Clásica San Sebastián. I was not at my very best, but I still managed to come in with the best ones. Although I knew my chances of winning the race were minimal, being among the best, and especially so close to home, made me feel good. I'm pleased.

Now it's time to recover, but I'll keep active, as the season's still far from over. I didn't include the Vuelta a España in my calendar at the start of the season, and I'll stick to that. However, I'll still ride big races, like the Deutchland Tour and the GP Plouay and Vattenfall Cyclassics. I'll do my utmost. After those races, the season is as good as finished for me.