Norwegian Roubaix contender says a result on Sunday will mean a successful spring
Much of what makes the Garmin-Cervelo roster so impressive is the fact that it contains so many potential winners, highlighted of course by World Champion, Thor Hushovd, Heinrich Haussler, and Tyler Farrar, Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix, however, will see a different look for the team of Jonathan Vaughters.
“The team is racing one hundred percent for me on Sunday,” says Thor Hushovd to VG Nett. “We are agreed on that.”
The original three-headed monster at the top of the team will now consist of just one, and he’ll be in the rainbow jersey as he tears northward from Compiegne through the barren Nord Pas de Calais countryside on Sunday.
According to the multi-time Norwegian national champion, the decision to base the Hell of the North completely around his performance was a simple one – it’s his race and no one else on the team has the form or credentials to argue the fact.
“A few things have determined that. We have seen, for example, that Heinrich is not in the shape we hoped he would be in. At the same time, Roubaix is a different race than Sanremo and Flanders. In Roubaix, I’ve shown I can win. No one else has shown that. In that case, the choice is easy.”
Up until this point in the spring, the Garmin-Cervelo Classics campaign has faltered at every turn. They haven’t raced terribly by any means, but the results, that which a team lives and dies by, haven’t been forthcoming. All that could change on Sunday though. A win in the Roubaix velodrome would be huge for not only the team, but Thor Hushovd as well, who has said that it is his biggest goal.
With so much riding on Paris-Roubaix – it would seem that placing all the hopes on the broad shoulders of Hushovd would be a recipe for a whole lot of pressure, but the Norwegian shrugs off the pressure and points to not Sunday, but Monday, when he’ll address that idea.
“It is only on Monday when I’ll talk about things like that. If I get the result on Sunday, then my spring season is a success.”
If the 33 year old from Grimstad takes the victory this weekend, it won’t just be a successful spring season for him, but his whole team as well. It will take a perfect team effort and a perfect Thor Hushovd when the race heads into its decisive phases as it approaches Roubaix in a little over twenty four hours.