The opening two stages of the Tour Down Under went largely as expected. Andre Greipel won a crash-marred sprint on stage one, while stage two saw a successful breakaway delight the local fans, as UniSA-Australia’s William Clarke came home alone. However, it was BMC’s Martin Kohler, thanks to bonuses gained in breaks on both days, who will defend the leader’s ochre jersey going into tomorrow’s third stage.
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"I have rediscovered my strength" (image courtesy of Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
Name: Tom Boonen
Age: 31
Thor resplendent in yellow in 2011’s Tour (image courtesy of Wikipedia)
Thor Hushovd turns 34 today, giving us a good excuse to celebrate the Norse God of Thunder.
The most successful Scandinavian cyclist to date, the mighty Thor has won the Tour de France’s green jersey twice: first in 2005 and then, in slightly controversial circumstances, in 2009. Once the officials demoted Mark Cavendish in stage 14’s sprint finish, it looked like Thor had the green jersey sewn up. However, his audacious 80km solo ride through the mountains on stage 17 to pick up a cluster of intermediate points proved to the doubters that he was a deserving winner of the maillot vert in Paris.