Haussler prepares for Classics with Garmin-Cervelo

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Heinrich Haussler has returned from the sun and beaches of Australia to the snow and cold in Germany, and is ready to for coming season. He is looking forward to his first meeting with his new team, Garmin-Cervelo.

He spent a month at home in Australia, spending time with his family and getting “as much sun as I could,” he wrote on his personal website. Upon his return to Freiburg, Germany, he moved into a new apartment, but now is ready to think of 2011.

On Sunday he will fly to the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean for the team meeting, and he expects to have, “a lot of fun there.” But after that things get more serious.

Upon his return to Europe, he will head to St. Moritz, Switzerland, and as in the past few years, he will take to cross-country skiing.

While he doesn't yet know what will be on his racing calendar for the new season, it is a safe bet that he will be at the Classics. After four rather anonymous seasons with Team Gerolsteiner, he burst into public attention with his last minute attack at the 2009 Milan-Sanremo, in the end losing narrowly to Mark Cavendish. He also finished second at the Tour of Flanders. Haussler capped the season by winning stage 13 of the Tour de France, soling in the last 40 kilometres into Colmar for an emotional win.

The 26-year-old was unable to repeat his successes this year. A knee injury suffered in the Volta ao Algarve kept him out of not only the Spring Classics but also the Tour de France.

Haussler struggled to ride with the damaged knee, but a crash in the finale of the fourth stage of the Tour de Suisse – once again with Mark Cavendish – was the final blow. A few weeks later he underwent successful surgery and returned to racing at the Tour of Britain.