World champion sees new teammate Tyler Farrar as having a better chance
Thor Hushovd (Cervélo TestTeam) has given up in the search for a third green points jersey at the Tour de France, according to wielerflits.nl. The newly crowned World champion will instead be concentrating on the classics, where a win at Paris-Roubaix has been a personal target for some time, and getting a Tour stage victory in his rainbow jersey.
“The green jersey is no longer a goal,” Hushovd told Danish TV station TV2.
At this year’s race Hushovd found himself off the pace of the other sprinters; he won the third stage, which crossed the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix, but this was from a small group. On the majority of the bunch sprints the Norwegian rarely finished inside the top five and never really looked like winning. Much of this can be attributed to Hushovd breaking his collarbone and missing a lot of racing in late spring, but in truth he has always struggled against the likes of Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese Vini) and Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia).
At this year’s Tour, Hushovd will put his considerable experience behind the efforts of his new teammate, as he travels across to the newly merged Garmin-Cervélo team. Although he has yet to win a Tour stage, 26-year-old Tyler Farrar is a more likely contender than the 32-year-old World champion.
“Tyler Farrar is a good sprinter who has achieved considerable success in recent years,” he explained. “He has beaten Cavendish a few times, whereas I haven’t succeeded on a flat course. I have now realised that it would be better for me to help him to beat Cavendish than to try to do it myself.”
The news that Hushovd has given up on the green jersey will come as a big surprise to many. The Norwegian has always been a yard or two off the pace of the pure hard men – in ten Tour starts he has taken just eight stage victories – but has instead relied on guile and consistency to take points. The decision of Tour organiser ASO to increase the points on offer at intermediate sprints was seen by many as playing into Hushovd’s hands.
Should he decide to support Farrar in the sprints next July the American will have one of the most experienced helpers in the peloton. Hushovd’s personal chances of stage victory remain to be see though; the peloton may not want to allow a potential green jersey winner get away in to many breaks, and even if he does get away his breakaway companions may not want to work for a man who could so easily outsprint them.