Thor Hushovd targeting to restrict Tom Boonen at the Paris-Roubaix 2012
Thor Hushovd has not registered any wins in the 2012 season. The cyclist is determined to find his winning ways at the tenth World Tour race of the season, Paris-Roubaix 2012.
Hushovd is definitely a strong contender for an overall victory but to secure the top podium position in presence of Tom Boonen will not be as easy as it seems.
Boonen is currently leading the UCI World Tour rankings with as many as eight victories in his bag already. He has secured 266 points with some of his outstanding performances in the 2012 season.
Simon Gerrans of Team Green Edge is 56 points at the second position with Vincenzo Nibali of Team Liquigas-Cannondale securing the third spot with 182 points to his credit.
Moreover, Boonen has also succeeded during the French race on three previous occasions, during the 2005, 2008 and 2009 editions of the event.
The Belgian has a golden opportunity to level the record of most wins ever secured by a player at the Paris-Roubaix.
Belgian cyclist Johan Vansummeren made the record after completing his fourth win in 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1977.
While commenting “I think I can follow Tom on the cobbles and also I know that I can beat him in the sprint,” Hushovd told reporters in Kortrijk on Thursday.
“That’s not that I say I can beat him every time but I think also he is afraid of me in a sprint on the velodrome”.
“I think he’s going to race aggressively. He’s always like that. You never know what’s going to happen so it’s always better to get to Roubaix with as few riders as possible”.
Thor Hushovd also nicknamed as ‘The God of Thunder’ is definitely amongst the favourites to claim the top podium spot on Sunday.
The Norwegian achieved stages at the Tour de France 2011, Tour de Suisse and the Tour of Britain. He held the yellow jersey for eight consecutive stages at the Tour de France, stage 2-9.
The 34-year-old has not succeeded at the race yet but he has succeeded during the under 23 event of the race.
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