In form-world champion remains at the top in Tour de France
With Cadel Evans lurking just one second back and many riders within striking distance of the yellow jersey, even Thor Hushovd expected today to be his final stage in the yellow jersey. However a stubborn refusal to give up saw him hold on to the general classification contenders, and a battling Hushovd remains at the top of the general classification.
The intention may well have been to go down in style, to honour the jersey by fighting until it was impossible any more. This time, though, as was also the case on Tuesday’s stage to Mûr-de-Bretagne, he had the power and experience to close the gaps those more suited to climbing had opened up.
“I am still there. Today I surprised myself again,” he said after finishing sixteenth on the stage finish at Super Besse. “I did not have a good day, I suffered a lot out there, but I never gave up. I just hung on, hung on, hung on, and now I am still here in yellow.”
The Garmin-Cervélo team made it clear from before the start that it would not defend the race lead; it too expected Hushovd to be back in his world champion’s jersey this evening, and so left it up to the other teams to do the work.
It wasn’t bluff, but more realism; Hushovd is a former sprint and short time-trial specialist who has improved over the years as an all rounder, but who normally reaches his limits on climbs such as these.
“Today was a really big surprise,” he admitted. “I’m tired after this week. It takes a lot of energy out of you to always be up there and defending the jersey so I really did not believe I could manage this today.
“I knew that the final was very hard but I’ve got incredible form right now and also the motivation to keep the lead. So I’m very happy with the result.”
Hushovd’s tactic over today’s rolling, demanding course – and particularly at the finish on Super Besse – was to focus on the rider who was closest to him in the general classification. The BMC Racing Team’s Australian leader was tipped by many to take over at the top, and so Hushovd decided to mark him as long as was possible.
“It was only Cadel Evans I was looking at,” he confirmed. “I saw him following the moves with one kilometre to go. I had no chance to follow, so I kind of did my tempo. There was a little gap at the end, but I managed in the last sprint to finish with the group.”
The effort impressed many, not least those with his team. “Words don’t express how impressed I am with Thor. Insane racing again today,” said Christian Vande Velde on Twitter after the finish. Tom Danielson also gave a big thumbs up. “Thor is my hero. That was an incredible performance.”
The Garmin-Cervélo team has now achieved several of the goals it laid out before the race. It won the team time trial, it took a stage with Tyler Farrar, and it has held the yellow jersey. The latter has earned it ongoing publicity, and tomorrow will be the seventh day in a row where Hushovd has been in the Maillot Jaune.
He’s enjoying that time at the top, but is also shooting glances at another jersey. “I’m jealous about Philippe Gilbert having the green jersey. I wish I was him! But I think he’s probably also jealous about me holding the yellow jersey,” he said.
“We train together a lot around the hills near Monaco and it’s good. He’s a guy who likes to push the limits very hard and then I’ll follow him…that’s good training.”
Hushovd describes tomorrow’s ninth stage as another hard day in the saddle. It features eight climbs of second, third and fourth category difficulty, and will be constantly up and down. “I think I just have to see what happens,” he admitted. “Of course I would love to have yellow tomorrow night as well, but tomorrow is a tough stage and it will be really hard to control the race.”