Disclosed is a process for preparing a carbonucleoside of formula (1) and intermediates for use therein. The process involves the step of reacting a compound of formula (2) with a compound of formula (3) under Mitsunobu-type reaction conditions to obtain a compound of formula (4), wherein PG1, PG2, PG3 and PG4 are protecting groups. The compound of formula (4) is deprotected to form the compound of formula (1), as shown below.