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Hushovd was overjoyed on the podium

Thor Hushovd

Date of birth:
18/01/1978
Nationality:
Norway

Age: 33
Team: Garmin-Cervélo
Nationality: Norwegian


 

If the current Road World Champion wins a stage in this year’s Tour de France, it will be his tenth year of victories at the biggest race in the world. Since he was part of the Crédit Agricole team that won the Team Time Trial in 2001, there have only been two years, 2003 and 2005, when he hasn’t won a stage of the Tour – and 2005 was the year he won his first of two points jerseys at the race. This year he says that his ambitions still focus on stage wins, leaving the quest for the green jersey to his team-mate, Tyler Farrar, but like most of the Garmin-Cervélo team, his real goals will be the Spring Classics.

In fact, the biggest risk the big Norwegian faces this season is that his team contains far too many Classics riders, and there could be more riders jostling for number one position than carrying water bottles. Hushovd, however, seems relaxed and confident that the team will be able to work together. In his last two years, at Cervélo, he showed his abilities in a team with multiple leaders and opportunistic tactics – and he certainly has the pedigree to give him the right to ride in the races he wants. Although he’s “only” won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Gent-Wevelgem, he’s been on the podiums at Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo twice, and with luck on his side (and not on Cancellara’s) he’ll always be one to watch. The rainbow jersey of the World Champion won’t hurt either – and with the 2011 World Championships course looking like it may be the kind of tough, uphill sprint finish Hushovd excels at, this may not be his last year in rainbows.

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