Hushovd breaks duck
ByReuters
Updated 15/06/2011 at 06:58 GMT
Thor Hushovd had barely raised his arms to salute Tuesday's fourth-stage victory in the Tour of Switzerland before he pointed repeatedly at the rainbow coloured stripes of 'world champion' on his jersey.
Garmin's team rider Thor Hushovd of Norway celebrates winning the fourth stage of the Tour de Suisse cycling race in Huttwil
Image credit: Reuters
The Garmin-Cervelo rider from Norway's uphill sprint triumph over Monday's stage winner, Peter Sagan of Slovakia, was his first since landing the world road race title in Australia in September.
Italy's Damiano Cunego remained the overall leader for the second successive stage.
"It was a quiet day," Cunego told reporters. "Not too many attacks and I only had to work hard in the last 20-km when the pace really picked up."
The Lampre-ISD rider should have few problems defending his 54-second advantage over Colombian Mauricio Soler in Wednesday's 204-km stage through rolling terrain from Huttwil to Tobel-Tagersen.
Sagan led the dash for the line on Tuesday and gained a few metres on a stretched-out peloton before Hushovd closed the gap and then took the stage by less than a bike length. Italy's Marco Marcato was third.
After a lacklustre classics campaign, the winner of the Tour de France's points competition in 2005 and 2009 said he was proud to claim victory in the world champion's jersey.
"It was all about positioning in the last few hundred metres and making the right decisions in a split second," the 33-year-old Hushovd said.
"I was under a lot of pressure to get this first victory as world champion. There was never any doubt about my condition so now I've got the win I feel much more relaxed."
Hushovd said he would not be trying for a third victory in next month's Tour de France's points event -- a competition involving the most consistent finishers over each stage of the race.
"There are not enough tough stage finishes like today," he added. "I can see maybe four stages where I'll have a chance.
"However, the real sprinters will get too many opportunities to pick up points so I'm ruling myself out."
Following a win for world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland in the opening time trial, Hushovd's victory is the second in four days for a reigning world champion.
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