Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Cervelo TestTeam quotes

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Parent Category: Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Category: News 2010

Published on Monday, 05 July 2010 19:33

Written by Luca Salvatelli

Thor Hushovd (NOR): “I feel frustrated by what happened today. Our team was working hard and we would have had a good chance for victory. I feel like they have taken something away from us today. There were a few sprinters who did not make it to the front group, but there was no reason to not contest the sprint today. Everyone made a gentleman’s agreement not to sprint, but I lost an important opportunity to try to win the stage and gain points.”

"The stage tomorrow will be very difficult. I have the confidence knowing that I can handle the cobblestones. I want to win the stage.”

Jeremy Hunt (GBR): “We pulled at the front all day. We all managed to get through. It was just chaos. In the end, they didn’t want to sprint. I cannot understand why. Hopefully there will be no points awarded for today's stage. It’s going to be chaos again tomorrow.”

Sport director Jean-Paul van Poppel (NED): “Everything was going to plan at first. It’s pretty bad for us. We took everything on our shoulders. No team wanted to start chasing. They wanted to let it go. We put up our hands and started to work. Everything was going well until the crash. If the crash wasn’t there, I am quite sure that there would have been a sprint and Thor would have been a big favorite. What the other teams decide to do, that’s their problem. It doesn’t matter what they want or not want, our guys are really motivated. They decided not to sprint for the points, and Thor was really upset about that. It ended up badly because of the crash. Otherwise it could have been the flowers and maybe the champagne.”

"Tuesday’s stage will be important. Anyone can win this stage, not just a cobblestone specialist. We have very strong prospects with Thor for the stage victory. It will also be important to keep Carlos out of trouble. The stage should not be too difficult, because there are 13 km of cobblestones, not 60 km. I don’t have a problem seeing the cobblestones in the Tour de France. It’s part of cycling. It will be a big spectacle for the race.”

Andreas Klier (GER): “I think tomorrow will be a big spectacle. The cobblestones themselves will not be so hard. Positioning at the arrival to the cobbles is the key factor. Everyone will want to be at the front, but the road is only 6 to 8 meters wide. That’s the problem. This will create chaos. Everyone will be very nervous because they will be afraid of falling. If one of the big favorites crashes, or they are caught behind a crash, they can lose lots of time and their Tour is over. We’d like to win the stage with Thor and keep Carlos out of harm’s way. We have a very strong team for these cobblestones. I did not race Paris-Roubaix this year, so this will be my Paris-Roubaix.”