Olé: Oakley’s Thor Hushovd Sprints to Tour of Spain Stage Six Victory
The Spanish countryside heated up on Thursday as Oakley’s Thor Hushovd captured the sixth stage of the Tour of Spain, while Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert retained the overall leader’s red jersey.
The Norwegian Cervelo rider trounced Italy’s Daniele Bennati and Slovenia’s Grega Bole to the line in a mass sprint at the end of the 151-kilometre ride from Caravaca de la Cruz to Murcia in southeastern Spain. Australia’s Allan Davis rounded out the field for a fourth place finish.
The stage included a second category climb toward the end, followed by a steep downhill stretch to the finish.
The final descent was treacherous and technical – so Hushovd stayed the course in the bunch and saved his precious energy for the final sprint.
“I was motivated for this stage,” said the 32-year-old, sporting his BMX Chrome Radar shades. The speedster had twice won the green jersey as best sprinter in the Tour de France. “I knew this climb and that maybe the best sprinters would get dropped, so I hung on and then in the end the Cervelo Test team did a great job for me so I’m really, really pleased for myself and for the whole team.”
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