Lets hear it for Hushovd?

woody1545
woody1545 Posts: 322
edited July 2010 in Pro race
It was great to see Cav win today!

I'm fairly new to this but I think it took alot of balls to come back from this weeks/seasons disappointments and deliver. However despite his talent, Cav acknowledges his achievements are a team effort.

However, when push comes to shove Thor Hushovd always seems to be up there bumping shoulders, fighting it out with little or no support.

If its too late for Cav I'd like to see Thor win the Green jersey again because he's one hell of a rider.

Comments

  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,241
    You say Thor is fighting it out alone, but that's the way he likes it. He could get a decent sprint train together - Klier, Hunt, Lancaster. But as Haussler said last year, he prefers just to sit on Cav's wheel, as that gives him the best chance of second.

    Thor is essentially a conservative rider. He has two goals - win a stage and the green jersey. He's got his stage so he won't take risks from now on, he'll just clock up the points.

    This isn't a criticism by the way. He knows what he's capable of, sets his targets and achieves them.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • k2rider
    k2rider Posts: 575
    hahaha worst `pure sprinter` in the pack has green again! ! thor is a wheel sucker and always will be, when has he won a pure sprint against sprinters ?? he wasnt even quick enough to be Renshaw on stage 1
    who cares?
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    k2rider wrote:
    hahaha worst `pure sprinter` in the pack has green again! ! thor is a wheel sucker and always will be, when has he won a pure sprint against sprinters ?? he wasnt even quick enough to be Renshaw on stage 1

    Still won a green jersey hasn't he? Freire gets the same kind of stick, but he's won 3 Worlds, 3 San-Remos, 4 Tour Stages and a Green Jersey. And the greatest honour of all, having my dog named after him!
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • symo
    symo Posts: 1,743
    But lets face it for all Thor's whining about Cav's line changes in a sprint he leans onto other riders in an attempt to knock them off, and he is becoming more and more blatant. It's about time the UCI did something about it.
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  • jibberjim
    jibberjim Posts: 2,810
    k2rider wrote:
    hahaha worst `pure sprinter` in the pack has green again! ! thor is a wheel sucker and always will be, when has he won a pure sprint against sprinters ?? he wasnt even quick enough to be Renshaw on stage 1

    It's a points jersey, not a sprinters jersey, maybe if Hushovd didn't bother getting himself over hills or through cobbles in the front group so as to compete for the wins there he'd be in a position to sprint from the front in the utterly flat stages.
    Jibbering Sports Stuff: http://jibbering.com/sports/
  • Homer J
    Homer J Posts: 920
    jibberjim wrote:
    k2rider wrote:
    hahaha worst `pure sprinter` in the pack has green again! ! thor is a wheel sucker and always will be, when has he won a pure sprint against sprinters ?? he wasnt even quick enough to be Renshaw on stage 1

    It's a points jersey, not a sprinters jersey, maybe if Hushovd didn't bother getting himself over hills or through cobbles in the front group so as to compete for the wins there he'd be in a position to sprint from the front in the utterly flat stages.


    +1 people seem to forget that
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Hushovd went right up in my estimation last year when he managed a solo break over a medium mountain stage to mop up intermediate sprint points...

    All part and parcel of the tactics of winning a jersey...
  • k2rider
    k2rider Posts: 575
    so disgruntledgoat when cavs won the same will you be calling your next dog cav or do you think its cool to call him oscar or is it freire? spose mark is a bit of a crap name for a dog
    who cares?
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    k2rider wrote:
    so disgruntledgoat when cavs won the same will you be calling your next dog cav or do you think its cool to call him oscar or is it freire? spose mark is a bit of a crap name for a dog

    Just because I appreciate other riders work doesn't mean I don't like Cavendish does it? To be honest, Freires palmeres has little to do with the dogs name. I was asked to submit a list of names to herself for approval (they were all my cycling names...) and Oscar won, despite heavy lobbying for Gibo and Birillo
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • Neil McC
    Neil McC Posts: 625
    Thor isn't really a pure sprinter like Cav. I really like them both as riders and would be happy to see either take the Green jersey this year. Time is on Cav's side remember and I wouldn't be surprised to see him develop and become, later in his career, more of a rider like Thor and less of a pure sprinter. I think he could become a very strong rider and compete in some of the cobbled classics etc. as afaik he likes the cobbles. I don't think he sees himself as just a sprinter with a lead out train into his 30's.
  • irideredthebike
    irideredthebike Posts: 21
    Homer J wrote:
    jibberjim wrote:
    k2rider wrote:
    hahaha worst `pure sprinter` in the pack has green again! ! thor is a wheel sucker and always will be, when has he won a pure sprint against sprinters ?? he wasnt even quick enough to be Renshaw on stage 1

    It's a points jersey, not a sprinters jersey, maybe if Hushovd didn't bother getting himself over hills or through cobbles in the front group so as to compete for the wins there he'd be in a position to sprint from the front in the utterly flat stages.


    +1 people seem to forget that

    +1 People might like to notice who won the points jersey at the Giro. Cadel Evans is not a sprinter.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,223
    disgruntledgoat wrote:
    k2rider wrote:
    hahaha worst `pure sprinter` in the pack has green again! ! thor is a wheel sucker and always will be, when has he won a pure sprint against sprinters ?? he wasnt even quick enough to be Renshaw on stage 1

    Still won a green jersey hasn't he? Freire gets the same kind of stick, but he's won 3 Worlds, 3 San-Remos, 4 Tour Stages and a Green Jersey. And the greatest honour of all, having my dog named after him!

    So if they find a blood bag with Oscar on can we safely assume it's yours? :wink:
  • camerone
    camerone Posts: 1,232
    NapoleonD wrote:
    Hushovd went right up in my estimation last year when he managed a solo break over a medium mountain stage to mop up intermediate sprint points...

    All part and parcel of the tactics of winning a jersey...


    could be interesting in the less obvious sprint stages as Thor and EBH are strong riders who can get over the climbs, i would say EBH is a much better climber and is seemingly faster than Thor in a sprint. depends how much EBH is allowed to do i think
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    Pross wrote:
    disgruntledgoat wrote:
    k2rider wrote:
    hahaha worst `pure sprinter` in the pack has green again! ! thor is a wheel sucker and always will be, when has he won a pure sprint against sprinters ?? he wasnt even quick enough to be Renshaw on stage 1

    Still won a green jersey hasn't he? Freire gets the same kind of stick, but he's won 3 Worlds, 3 San-Remos, 4 Tour Stages and a Green Jersey. And the greatest honour of all, having my dog named after him!

    So if they find a blood bag with Oscar on can we safely assume it's yours? :wink:

    I am tranquilo
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Thor Hushovd- winner of U23 TT Championship '98

    35163_442029171017_582956017_5846171_3495239_n.jpg

    The points jersey in the Giro is different to the Tour's because of where the points are awarded - not 100% sure but for instance I think you get points on all finishes in Giro but not on Mountain Tour stages.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,223
    Not quite true. All stages have points but they vary.
    The green ("points") jersey is awarded from points accumulated from
    finishing places and intermediate sprints. Riders receive points for
    all stage finishes based on the type of stage.

    Each stage of the Tour falls into one of four categories:

    1) flat stage
    2) rolling stage
    3) mountain stage
    4) individual time trial or prologue

    Flat stages: 25 places: 35, 30, 26, 24, 22, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13,
    12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

    Rolling stages: 20 places: 25, 22, 20, 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8,
    7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

    Mountain stages: 15 places: 20, 17, 15, 13, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

    Individual Time Trial and Prologue: 10 places: 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

    Intermediate Sprints: 3 places: 6, 4, 2

    So there's not that big a difference on the big mountain stages but it is unusual for those who will be in the mountain points to also be getting up there in the flat stages. Maybe Thomas can do it?
  • Tom Butcher
    Tom Butcher Posts: 3,830
    I think it would be better if the green jersey was a sprinters jersey - and they rejigged the points to make that more the case. I'd also like to see top 3s given more rating than currently. Winning a bunch sprint to take a stage is far more impressive than rolling in for a couple of 8ths but the points as they are don't reflect that.

    I know at the moment it's for consistent high finishes across all terrain but given that most of those scoring points in the time trials and mountains aren't even interested in the competition for me it doesn't really work. The more interesting battle is between Cav and Pettacchi for fastest man - Hushovd quietly clocking up the points just doesn't seem as signficant.
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  • The Prodigy
    The Prodigy Posts: 832
    Tom Butcher wrote:
    I think it would be better if the green jersey was a sprinters jersey - and they rejigged the points to make that more the case. I'd also like to see top 3s given more rating than currently. Winning a bunch sprint to take a stage is far more impressive than rolling in for a couple of 8ths but the points as they are don't reflect that.

    I know at the moment it's for consistent high finishes across all terrain but given that most of those scoring points in the time trials and mountains aren't even interested in the competition for me it doesn't really work. The more interesting battle is between Cav and Pettacchi for fastest man - Hushovd quietly clocking up the points just doesn't seem as signficant.

    I agree with everything said above but watching Hushovd quietly picking up points last year against Cav who was doing the opposite was a great rivalry.

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