While Astana's Alberto Contador took his first win of the season in stage 3 of the Volta ao Algarve, Cérvelo TestTeam riders have had a rough start. Heinrich Haussler crashed during the stage, injuring his knee, but was able to continue. Jeremy Hunt wasn't as lucky and had to abandon the race due to a problem with his knee from a previous incident.
“Along with the fast start there were also a number of crashes. One of the biggest, with five to six riders in it, contained Heinrich Haussler. He complained of some pain in his knee but he seems to be all right and did complete the stage,” said Marcello Albasini, Cérvelo TestTeam director.
Heinrich Haussler's background is unique. His father is German, mother Australian and he was raised in Australia. Haussler moved to Germany at 14 to follow his dream of becoming a professional cyclist and currently races with a German license.
At last year's Volta ao Algarve he won the first and fifth stage before going on to finish second to HTC-Columbia's Mark Cavendish in Milan-Sanremo by millimeters. So far this year he has shown he's in good form by winning the sprinter's jersey in the Tour of Qatar. The team hopes Haussler's knee pain won't hurt his chances for victory in tomorrow's stage, which is expected to end in a bunch sprint. With the spring classics fast approaching, a lingering knee problem would be very bad news for Haussler and his Cérvelo TestTeam.
“Unfortunately we did lose Jeremy Hunt today for the remainder of this race. He was complaining of knee pain and decided, after his long breakaway yesterday, to take care of his knee so he is in top form for the upcoming spring classics,” Albasini explained.
Hunt finished third place in last year's Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, tenth in Gent-Wevelgem and nineteenth in the Queen of Classics, Paris-Roubaix.
Hunt will be expected to ride in support of the team's leaders Thor Hushovd and Haussler. After two key members of his Classics team took a hit today, Albasini decided to pull him from to the race today to make sure he fully recovers for the spring. Tomorrow should prove whether or not Haussler's season will be affected by an injury.