Today is a significant day for the Norwegian rider Thor Hushovd, provoking feelings of several emotions. He has lined out in the prestigious Tour of Lombardy Classic clad in the striking white jersey of world road race champion, soaking up the congratulations and encouragement of the passionate Italian fans. He’s raced one before in the maillot-Arc-en-Ciel, competing in the Giro del Piemonte two days ago, but this is a far bigger race.
Less happily, the day also marks the final event for the Cervélo Test Team. The Swiss squad is coming to an end, less than two years after it made its debut. Many of the riders have found new teams, but some of the management and support staff are still searching. Future concerns aside, saying goodbye a tightly-knit group is always difficult.
Hushovd is choosing to focus on the positive, though, knowing that his rainbow jersey and his upcoming slot as one of the leaders with the Garmin-Cervélo team point towards what could be a very memorable 2011 for him. He was in good spirits in the run up to today’s race, clearly thriving in his new role as world champion. Cervélo had an unofficial press day yesterday and Hushovd sat down with VeloNation and one other journalist to talk about a range of subjects.
In part one of the interview, he discusses the worlds road race in Geelong, the reception he’s had since winning, the emotions of taking the biggest victory of his career plus his other highlights from 2010.
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Q: What was it like yesterday, racing with the rainbow jersey for the first time?
Thor Hushovd: It was great. There was a lot of tension before the start, but I am really proud of wearing the jersey and was proud to win the race [in Australia]. That is why I am happy to turn up here and show the jersey for the sponsor, for the Cervélo Test Team, in its last race.
And of course also for myself, to respect of the Rainbow Jersey…I’m here so it’s not a case where I win, stand on the podium in Geelong and then be away for three or four months.
Q: When you refer to ‘tension’ before the start, what do you mean?
TH: Just the attention. I think it is good to be racing here in Italy, because they have the history with the rainbow jersey. They are just crazy about this jersey, more so than other countries. That is how I feel.
Q: You were injured before the Tour, won a stage in the Tour and took another in the Vuelta. When you went to Australia, did you think you had a good chance to become world champion?
TH: Well, I knew I had a chance, but it is a long way from knowing in my head that I have a chance to really do it [winning]. Of course, I surprised myself, and I also felt afterwards that it was unreal that I achieved that big goal. It is something that I knew I could do, but it is such a big difference to actually do it.
There were a lot of emotional things happening in my head in the last 50 metres, and until several minutes after the finish line.
Q: There were a lot of attacks during the closing laps, particularly by riders like Philippe Gilbert and Cadel Evans. Were you concerned by that, or were you confident that it would come back together?
TH: I have to say I never felt confident in the race, not until 50 metres to go. I knew with 5 kilometres to go that it was going to be a bunch sprint. But on the first climb on the last lap, I didn’t know it was going to be a bunch sprint.
Of course you are racing in the hope that it would come back together, and I also knew from that last corner, the left-hander, that with a headwind it was not easy to be in the front. But I never gave up. If I had, I would not have hung on in this group.
Q: Cavendish and other riders were gone before that…was it difficult for you to stay in there, suffer and keep believing?
TH: Well, first we did all these laps and you are suffering. But then you start counting down, saying to yourself that there are only six laps to go, five, four. You always have hope. Also the way I look at things is if I race the worlds and I am sprinting for fifth place, then I am fifth. If I win the sprint [for that placaing], then I am happy if I did a good race.
But if I am sprinting for a podium place or a win and I do something wrong, I will not kill myself, but I will have regrets for weeks. So you always think in your head and find new motivations. This year, I never gave up…
Q: When you first rode the course, did you think then that it was too difficult for Cavendish and Farrar?
TH: Yes, I was quite sure. Everybody said beforehand that it was a sprinters’ race. Then when we got closer to the race, during the Vuelta, they said ‘no, it’s not that easy.’ Then when I came here, the first time I did it I almost thought it was too hard for myself. I was doing it in training, it was colder and there was a headwind on the first climb. But then I did one lap again two days before the worlds, when I had better form, and then I got a lot of confidence back.
Q: Was Philippe Gilbert the biggest worry for you? He started the race as the biggest favourite, and rode aggressively….
TH: Yes, Gilbert is from Belgium and you had whole Belgian team and they were really strong, together with Italy and Spain. But for me, Freire was always my biggest favourite.
Q: Were you surprised by Freire’s sprint? He didn’t seem to have the same punch that you had…
TH: Yes, I think he was missing something. I think he also followed the wrong wheel. Anyway, I had a great sprint, I had a lot of power and I just got everything out of myself. I didn’t think about where he was, I just did a perfect sprint.
I decided in the last kilometre not to focus on one person. If you concentrate on one person, you spent energy to maybe fight with another guy. I just wanted to stay where was best. I didn’t really stay on any wheel from the last corner, I just stayed on the left, in the fifth position or something and waiting until 250 metres to go. Then I went, almost at the same time as Breschel.
Q: Have you watched the sprint on TV?
TH: Yes, I have looked at it on the internet many times. I didn’t see it before I got back home. I had very emotional feelings, I got goosebumps. I think the first time I looked at it, I almost got nervous because on the TV it looked like I could be blocked on the left side. I am really proud when I see it, of course, and I also I can see that I get all my power on the bike, on the pedals.
Q: You were injured earlier this season and didn’t have your full form in races like the Tour. Did that help you to keep strong until the end of the season?
TH: Yes, I think so. And I also thought about it at that time. You often see riders who crash coming back stronger later in the season. I was also thinking about this. I was never worried about the Tour de France, if I didn’t make it I would have said, ‘okay, it just happens, it was a crash, what can I do?’ But I managed to get back into form for the Tour.
I just made it, though…I was strong on the last day of Switzerland. In other years, I was strong already in May and June, and you come into the Tour de France and your form just goes down, it is hard to come up again.
So I think it was good that I didn’t push my body too much. Not in the Classics, because also then I had some problems and also not in May/June. So I really had some tops [good form] for the Classics and the Tour de France, but I never got flats. I think that is why I could come back that strong in the Vuelta and the worlds.
Q: Looking at the rest of the season, was there anything else that gave you a lot of satisfaction?
TH: Yes, the Tour de France stage. That was a big win for me, on the cobble-stones, the mini-Roubaix. That was a big win.
Q: And Paris-Roubaix has always been a race that you have been passionate about…
TH: Yes, yes. It is a big dream for me to win this race. Therefore, when you win the mini-Roubaix in the Tour de France, on a really exciting stage, it is really good.
Q: Was your sensation in winning the worlds the best feeling of your career, or were some of your earlier wins as exciting for you? Sometimes riders say their first wins are the most emotional…
TH: No, I cannot compare this with the other ones, because all the Tour de France stages that I won, or wherever they were, I passed the finish line and I raised my arms as a reflection. But in the worlds, I said to myself ‘you are going to win.’ It was not that I just raised my arms, I kind of had to answer myself and I said ‘yeah, it is going to happen.’
[Before the finish] I just said to myself that I am going to sprint until the line, to not look back in the sprint. Even afterwards, it took a while for me to really understood that I made it. So it was something really different.
Q: Waking up the next morning and realising that you were world champion must have be a great feeling…
TH: Yes, I actually had the podium jersey in my suitcase, under the flap. I opened this, saw the jersey and went, ‘wow,’ to myself.
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In part II, Hushovd talks about being a figurehead as world champion, the Contador situation, his ideas on fighting doping in the sport, the controversial comments by Ettore Torri and the planned riders’ strike, as well as looking ahead to the 2011 season and his move to Garmin.
Read Part II of our interview with Thor Hushovd