Considering his name and physique, Thor Hushovd can get away with being the subject of a He-Man referencing headline. His second win during the Tour of Poland was the highlight of that race for me, if only because I’ve never seen such a lumbering sprint. Thor picked the world’s biggest gear early on and then spent quite some time winding it up. It worked though. He won by a distance.
Tour of Poland overall
Dutchman, Pieter Weening, won the seven-stage race. It was his first stage race win at the age of 32, although he finished second in the same race as long ago as 2005. He nipped past a few people with a strong performance in the final time trial. Christophe Riblon who won on Alpe d’Huez was one of the frogs he leapt.
Bradley Wiggins is back
Team Sky’s Sergio Henao finished fifth overall, having received a great deal of assistance from a plucky domestique by the name of Bradley Wiggins. It might seem odd to have a Tour de France champion and Olympic gold medallist working as a ‘servant’ for another rider, but that’s cycling.
If you think this must be a bit embarrassing for Wiggins, let’s put things in perspective. His aim for this season is to win the time trial at the World Championships in late September. We got a reasonable view as to what his chances might be with that final stage time trial.
Among Wiggins’ rivals was four-time contre la montre world champion, Fabian Cancellara. Wiggins beat him by almost a minute. Needless to say, he beat everyone else as well. If he can finish that far ahead in a 46m36s ride, things are basically going okay. He now has an early autumn appointment with Tony Martin.
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