The Cervélo TestTeam ended any doubts as to whether this new squad would be able to pull off big wins, delivering Thor Hushovd to the victory in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday. Not only did Hushovd win, but the team had three riders in the small front group - all of whom finished inside the top ten. Only the Rabobank team had more riders in the group with five, but could only manage third place with Juan Antonio Flecha.
The race saw another strong performance from Heinrich Haussler, who already scored two victories this season in the Volta ao Algarve. Haussler went away with Rabobank's Sebastian Langveld after the final climb, and was only caught in the final 300 meters when his teammate Andreas Klier had no choice but to start the lead-out for Hushovd.
"Today it was a great win, in my eyes it was a team win," said Hushovd. "We were always up there during the race, and when Haussler attacked with maybe 40km to go, me and Klier could just sit back and we did not have to work. That was perfect - it was bad for him he got caught with only 300 meters to go, but in the last 100m, Klier told me 'Thor take my wheel' and he had a perfect leadout for me. So this was a great win for me and the Cervélo TestTeam."
Klier and Haussler held on to finish 7th and 8th, respectively.
Directeur sportif Jean-Paul Van Poppel was pleased to chalk up the fifth win of the season. "We had an excellent race starting with all the guys in the front breakaway group, controlling as necessary."
The win was the second for Hushovd, who also scored a stage victory at the Tour of California last week. Along with Haussler's two stages, the team also scored a win in the Ladies' Tour of Qatar with Kristen Wild taking the overall title.
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