Hushovd doing something right
Norwegian green jersey holder Thor Hushovd has been holding on to the green jersey since he won the third stage of the 2010 edition, and he will wear it as the Tour enters the mountains in the seventh stage tomorrow.
The Cervelo Test Team rider took home the green jersey victory in 2005 and 2009, and if he can maintain his lead he will take it for a third time. The Norwegian has been outperforming the early Tour favourites without any prior reconnaissance.
“Too many roundabouts, pavements and road junction islands can be changed between the time you could study the course in detail and the day of the stage”, explains Hushovd.
The event, because of its importance, inspires many general classification riders to study the route in detail and to ride stages in advance. But for Hushovd, preparation for the Tour is all mental.
Ivan Basso, riding for team Liquigas, took home the victory in this year’s Giro d’Italia on May 30 and began his Tour de France reconnaissance on June 1.
“Despite the voices telling me to enjoy my victory in the Giro and not to ride the Tour, it’s the only thing I can think of”, says the Italian. “To become totally a rider again, I must go back to the Tour and give back to the Tour what it has given me, that is, everything, since it’s racing that made me a champion.”
For Lance Armstrong, it is also a way to revisit familiar places. The 7-time Tour winner has made reconnaissance popular, his methods adopted by two-time winner Alberto Contador, among others, though Contador’s right-hand man, Alexander Vinokourov, sides with Hushovd.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s legs and form on the day that count!”, said Vinokourov.
This year, before going to Rotterdam for the Grand Depart, many of the Tour favourites rode parts of the third and final stage. Contador was supported by the expertise of Peter van Petegem, winner of the Paris-Roubaix.
“He advised me about what equipment to use, and I learnt a lot in two days”, says the Spaniard.
The sprinters of Team Sky, however studied their adversaries and the ends of stages in video to dissect tactics and positioning. Reconnaissance is not part of their preparation.
In the early years, riders would compete in races through the spring and early summer, then rested their legs before the Tour began. Beginning with three-time winner Greg LeMond—and becoming more complete during the Armstong years—preparation became a year-long process.
This means that the racers are training more and racing less than in the early Tour. We have seen how tired racing can make a cyclist and competitive racing is not the ideal preparation for goal races. The Tour itself presents demands that are unique to it alone, so riders will choose to replicate those conditions in training camps rather than competing in other races.
Still, competitive racing remains a necessary part of a cyclist’s training for the Tour. It is impossible to put the finishing touches on a cyclist’s speed and intensity while riding alone, without the extra pressure of competing against other racers.
The ability to measure things accurately with power meters and timed climbs has increased the ability for training to remain focused and accurate. Being able to categorize the types of sustainable power necessary to climb and the power-to-weight ratios in a given time period allows a rider to gauge their development and to target exactly what type of training needs to be done to be successful at the Tour.
The Tour has grown so large that cyclists devote their entire seasons to the Tour at the risk of illness or injury which can put them out of commission for year. But the effort is worthwhile for most cyclists, because all that matters is success at the Tour de France.
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