I think that the management, staff and riders of Cervelo are starting to wonder when our run of bad luck is going to come to an end.  This season couldn’t have been more different than last year when almost everything seemed to go our way.

Of course we have already had success this year, with new signings Theo Bos and Xavier Tondo taking 2 wins each (in decidedly different fashion I might add!), and the latter also taking 2nd overall in the Tour of Catalunya.  The classics team, on the other hand, have not yet been so successful.
 
Early signs were that things were going in the right direction, with Heinrich Haussler taking 2nd behind an immensely strong Juan Antonio Flecha in Het Nieuwsblad, despite a nagging knee injury.  Unfortunately, that would be the best it got for Heinrich this Spring.  With his knee getting worse, he was forced to pull out of Paris Nice and completely rest, forgoing any aspirations of even starting in his favourite races of the year; the Tour of Flanders and Paris Roubaix.

Thor Hushovd, our other leader, also missed a couple of weeks of important training in January through illness. Being one of the classiest riders in the world, though, he still managed to perform well and finish both Het Volk and Kuurne Brussels Kuurne, then used Tirreno Adriatico to build form, before going onto make in impressively powerful performance at Milan San Remo.  We were looking forward to riding for him on Saturday at E3 Prijs, but a stomach bug picked up the night before meant that he only got 10km into the race before deciding there was no point in continuing.

100km later, and yet another disaster.  Road captain for the team, Andres Klier, was involved in a crash, flying head first into a ditch, suffering concussion and going straight to hospital.  It is another huge blow to the team, but thankfully he is doing OK, though very unlikely to race at Flanders or Roubaix.

Finally, yesterday, at Gent Wevelgem, we lost Martin Reimer early on in another bad crash.  Initially it was feared he had broken his collar bone, but X-rays showed that nothing was broken, and he was able to go out for a short easy spin today.

Apart from that, everything has been going swimmingly!!

One of the incredible frustrating aspects of cycling is how quickly months of hard work can come undone.  For the classics team, riders who want to hit top form at the start of April, work normally begins at the start of November. By the time the team’s intensive two week camp rolls around in January, we have already spent over two months training hard, often in arduous weather (particularly this winter). 

This intensive team training camp is followed by early season ‘training races’, and yet more training at home between races.  It is the constant thought and ambition in your mind, to arrive here in the best condition possible, that keeps you going through the pain of intervals, or makes you do an extra hour in the rain (or snow!).  It is so unfortunate for Heinrich, and probably Andreas too, that they will be unable to use those months of hard work in the races they love the most.

Things aren’t finished for us yet though, not by any means.  The biggest races are still to come, and we have to remind ourselves that the last three races were really just warm ups.  The strength of this team comes through the way we all gel together, and that includes the staff as well as the riders.  Everyone helps each other as much as possible towards one common goal.  Thor has recovered now, and the rest of us are certainly going well enough to help him reach the podium in Flanders and/or Roubaix.  I know he is capable of it, and if he pulls it off, the bad luck we have endured this year will soon be forgotten.