No Giro for Hushovd

Crédit Agricole rider Thor Hushovd is back to previous racing schedules for 2008. The Norwegian decided to scrap the Giro d'Italia from his programme this year, a race in which he participated in 2007 but abandoned after stage 12. Moreover, Hushovd did not win a single stage in the event, having to give in to Robert Förster in stage five and Alessandro Petacchi in stage seven.

"It's not easy to get back to a Grand Tour after a Classics time-out, and I prefer to have more reserves for the Tour de France," Hushovd explained to AFP. The tall sprinter will thus focus solely on the Tour in an effort to seize that Green jersey again that he took home from France in 2005, and add another stage victory to his Tour palmarès which counts five wins until now. "I want a stage win and the Green jersey in the Tour. Further on my calendar also are Milano-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix," he added.

With 2008 being an Olympic year again, Hushovd is also thinking about heading to Beijing in August, but fears the parcours might be too difficult for his abilities. "I still don't know if I'll ride the Olympic road race, but the Worlds are already included in my programme," he continued. "I really want to do better in 2008 than I did in last year." Hushovd scored only one victory in 2007, which was the fourth stage of the Tour de France, and reckoned he was "a little less strong than in 2006."