Two wins in Tour of Qatar inspire Garmin-Cervelo rider
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Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Cervelo) looks happy in the golden race leader's jersey(Image credit: AFP)
Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Cervelo) explains the finishing sprint.(Image credit: Barry Ryan)
Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Cervelo) beats Renshawand Bennati at the line(Image credit: AFP)
Heinrich Haussler is more than satisfied with his "perfect start“ to the 2011 season, with two early victories at the Tour of Qatar. The Garmin-Cervelo rider will now skip the opening Belgian races in favour of a two-week training block.
After a 2010 season marked more by knee problems than by sporting success, the Australian was happy to get the new season off to a winning start. He took the mass sprint win in the second stage of the Tour of Qatar, and then repeated his success the next day. That stage three win gave him the leader's jersey. In the end he was second overall, only eight seconds behind winner Mark Renshaw (HTC-Highroad).
From there Haussler went to the Tour of Oman, where he rode only the first four stages. "I am more than satisfied with my wins in the second and third stages of the Tour of Qatar. It is a great feeling to already have two victories in February. OK, I must admit that I would have liked to have won the Tour of Qatar..." he wrote on his personal homepage.
Instead of riding Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne this weekend, he is off training with teammate Matthew Wilson.
"These races are good for me and I would have liked to have ridden them, but I think it is better to do another two-week training block.“
From there, he will head to Paris-Nice before going for victory in Milan-San Remo and the cobbled Classics.
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