Thor Hushovd out of Volta a Catalunya
Thor Hushovd is targeting the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix as the biggest goals of his 2012 season.
He was looking ahead at the Milan-San Remo and the Volta a Catalunya to warm up for the more serious goals in the later part of the season.
The cyclist had to face the disappointment and could not pursue his goals because of illness. He was amongst a number of cyclists suffered with the stomach problems during the Paris-Nice.
Thor has hence decided to abandon the Volta a Catalunya until he fully recovers. Hushovd is part of one of the most expensive sides of the new season, Team BMC.
He started riding professionally with Team Credit Agricole in 2000 and stayed with the team until 2008.
Hushovd accepted an offer from Team Cervelo for 2009-10 seasons and also spent a year with Team Garmin (2011).
He accepted an offer from the American side, Team BMC and has not registered any wins for the team in the season so far.
The 34-year-old had a terrific past season and claimed a number of victories in the past season. He secured three stages at the Tour de France 2011 and also held the yellow jersey from stage 2 to stage 9.
Hushovd finished 8th at the Paris-Roubaix and also achieved stages at the Tour de Suisse and the Tour of Britain in the previous season.
The Norwegian’s personal coach Atle Kvålsvoll commented on his current form. He told Procycling.no, “Obviously this is not very favourable”.
“He has started training but it is not prudent to let him ride a stage race in the condition he is in, it is of course undesirable to change the race program so late. We would rather have done without this illness”.
Atle still believes that Thor could still be able to recover in time for the Paris-Roubaix scheduled on April 8th, 2012.
The winner of the race will be awarded with 100 points while the second and the third positions holders will achieve 80 and 70 points respectively.
Team BMC is desperate in need of a victory as it has not registered any win in the season so far. The team is now targeting the ongoing Volta a Catalunya to claim its first victory of the 2012 season.
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