He’s been sidelined more than once this year due to injury, but things finally seem to be coming good for Heinrich Haussler as the Tour de France approaches. The Australian/German rider netted a stage win in the Tour last year and would love to at least equal that this time round; sprinting to victory on today’s second stage of the Tour de Suisse has put the smile back on his face, a bit of swagger back into his step.
“I definitely feel good about this win,” he said, referring to what is his first victory of the 2010 season. “I had been in training and then in the Tour of California but I had to pull out because I still had problems with my knee. So I’ve been training and I’m getting ready for the Tour now. For me the season really starts here. This definitely gives me confidence for the Tour. My form is good now.”
Haussler was one of the few fast riders who was left in the bunch after a hilly stage to Sierre. He edged out Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Marco Mercato (Vacansoleil) at the end of a chaotic fight for places, getting his position just right and then finishing it off with a cool turn of speed.
He had to dig deep to be there, though. “It was really hard today. No-one expected the last hill to be that hard,” he admitted, referring to a climb that was listed as a third category ascent but was really far harder than that. “There were a lot of attacks on the hill with the climbers always going. We were riding 30-40 guys and then a small bunch got back together. I looked around and I was the only one there so I went even harder because I didn’t have anyone to help me. But I knew I was going uphill for the last 200 metres and there was some head wind so I waited and waited for the right moment…it was a nice win.”
His main aim is to prepare for the Tour de France so he doesn’t want to hammer himself in Switzerland. The aim is to push himself at times, then save his energy at other moments. That said, if he has a chance to lift the flowers and spray the champagne again, he’ll seize it.
“There are a lot of stages after this that will be really hard, so we’ll just have to see,” he said, when asked if he would try again. “I don’t want to really go too deep here but if I have the chance for another one or two stages then we’ll definitely give it a go.”
Before today, Haussler’s best showing of the 2010 season was second on two stages in the Tour of Qatar and the runner-up slot in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. In contrast, by this time last season he had notched up four wins, and so it will be a big relief to get moving and start notching up victories. The spring has been a frustrating one, but he hopes that the summer will be rewarding.