Heinrich Haussler (l) and Thor Hushovd chat about tactics or maybe just the weather before the start. (Image credit: Bert Geerts)
Norway's Thor Hushovd, 2005 and 2009 Tour de France green jersey winner, and Germany's Heinrich Haussler, a 2009 Tour de France stage winner, head Cervélo TestTeam's roster for the third edition of the USA's Tour of Missouri.
"It will be a sprinter's festival, I guess, and that means a fight between Thor Hushovd and Mark Cavendish," said Jean-Paul van Poppel, Cervélo Test Team directeur sportif. "We are building a strong team around Thor for this race and we hope to find a moment to beat Mark Cavendish. Thor won in the U.S. already this year in the third stage of the Tour of California. Next to Thor, we will have Heinrich Haussler for the breakaways and stages."
Haussler is currently ranked 10th in the UCI world rankings. He has won four major races this year, including stage 13 of the Tour de France and a stage at Paris-Nice. He also finished second to Mark Cavendish in Milano-Sanremo earlier this season.
"I'm looking forward to the Tour of Missouri because it will be my only race in the U.S. this season," said Haussler. "I have really good memories of the U.S., it is always nice to race there and I'm sure it will be a great race and a lot of fun on the bike."
In addition to Hushovd and Haussler, Cervélo TestTeam also named USA's Ted King as part of the team. A full roster will be announced later this month.
"It will be amazing for an American race to play host to the two top sprinters in the world following their great battle in July at the Tour de France," said Jim Birrell, the Tour of Missouri's race director, referring to the participation of Britain's Mark Cavendish (Team Columbia-HTC), winner of six Tour de France stages this year. "The war they waged on the roads of France was well documented internationally. It will be very exciting for a reprise in Missouri which should see some fast and furious final sprints."
The seven-stage Tour of Missouri begins on September 7 in St. Louis and finishes September 13 in Kansas City.
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