Back in winning form after a quiet spring, Thor Hushovd is aiming to keep his current momentum going in his home race, the upcoming Arctic Race of Norway. The BMC Racing Team rider will lead his squad in the ASO-organised race, which starts on Thursday and runs until Sunday.
Hushovd was passed over for selection for the Tour de France and appears to be trying to prove a point since that decision was made, winning the Norwegian road race championships, a stage of the Tour of Austria and two stages in last week’s Tour of Poland.
Physically good and mentally psyched, he’s set two big targets.
“I have two goals: to win a stage and to win the overall as well,” he said. “I haven't really looked at the last three kilometres of every stage, which is really what counts. But I think it's possible to have a bunch sprint on all four stages.
“I look forward to bringing the whole team up there and having all my colleagues see that part of Norway because it's really beautiful there.”
He will be backed by five others - Adam Blythe, Martin Kohler, Sebastian Lander, Dominik Nerz and the stagiaire Silvan Dillier.
The BMC Racing Team had a quiet Tour de France, with Cadel Evans, Tejay van Garderen, Philippe Gilbert and others not firing all cylinders. However since then, things have picked up with other riders. In addition to Hushovd’s recent success, Greg Van Avermaet took two sages plus the overall in the Tour de Wallonie, while Taylor Phinney soloed to an impressive win on stage four in Poland.
The team’s assistant director Yvon Ledanois is looking forward to the next race, and finding out of that momentum will continue “I'm excited to see what we can do after Thor's success in Poland,” he stated. “I know that Norway is a big objective for him [Hushovd] and we have the perfect mix of younger riders and veterans for this type of race.”
The Arctic Tour or Norway begins in three days’ time with a 192.5 kilometre stage starting and finishing in Bodø.
BMC Racing Team Arctic Race of Norway Roster (Aug. 8-11):
Adam Blythe (GBR), Silvan Dillier (SUI), Thor Hushovd (NOR), Martin Kohler (SUI), Sebastian Lander (DEN), Dominik Nerz (GER).