Thor Hushovd of the Cervélo TestTeam knows exactly how the green jersey is won: It is not only the final dash to the line that counts but also the intermediate sprints along the way to Paris that offer crucial points. This hamster tactic put him ahead of Mark Cavendish by ten points last year, despite the Briton winning six stages.
Hushovd once again put himself in the crucial move of stage 12 to Mende yesterday. "This is the Tour de France – you must fight every day. I felt very good in the morning. I was a little angry yesterday after losing the green jersey and I wanted to try something today," Hushovd said. In stage 11, Alessandro Petacchi took over the points classification, but now dropped back into second place, six points behind. "It's very important to take back the green jersey," Hushovd acknowledged.
Hushovd was lucky that early moves were eliminated and he was able to join an 18-man move on the second climb of the day. While he lost the sprint to Petacchi's teammate Grega Bole in Mariac at kilometer 74.5, the four points put him back in a tie with Petacchi.
The versatile Norwegian was able to reverse the result in the second sprint of the day, at Langogne (km 158.5), adding another six points to his tally and taking over the lead again. After the hard work, he could afford to drop back to the peloton, knowing that the uphill finish into Mende would prevent the sprinters from interfering with the battle for the day's victory or for any more points, for that matter.
Hushovd's biggest rival was Mark Cavendish last year and the Manx Man has already won three stages again this year. But Hushovd knows how to battle it out his way. "I won the green jersey last year because I was the most consistent rider and I am showing that again. My sprint isn't going great, but I hope to be stronger as the race continues," Hushovd said.
Hushovd is currently less worried about Cavendish, who did not show his best in the opening stages and trails Hushovd by 35 points. "I think Alessandro Petacchi is currently my most dangerous rival for the green jersey. He's very strong in the sprints right now." Robbie McEwen also sits ahead of Cavendish, in third place and 29 points short of green.
Hushovd continues to believe that the race of the sprinters won't be necessarily won in the 65+kmh madness of the finishing straights. "The Pyrénées will be very important. There could be some points to be taken even in the mountain stages. This green jersey battle will not be decided until the final day."
Besides the different tactics to accumulate points there is another similarity to last year's battle between Cavendish and Hushovd. In 2009, Cavendish was relegated on one stage due to impeding Hushovd in the sprint, in a somewhat controversial ruling. Yesterday, the race jury decided to send home Cavendish's lead-out man Mark Renshaw.
Renshaw fist headbutted Julian Dean, with the New Zealander moving into Renshaw's line. Most agree that this was just a normal jockeying for position in the sprint. But the second move, the one that cost Renshaw his place for the remainder of the Tour, was quite inexplicable. Renshaw checked back and saw that Garmin's Tyler Farrar was moving up. Renshaw then swerved to the left, with Farrar having to stop his sprint and tap Renshaw in order to not get put into the barriers.
Hushovd is currently somewhat staying out of this madness of the fast guys, but his hamster tactic could well pay off like it did in Paris last year. It would be Hushovd's third green jersey, after 2005 and 2009. His other results in the green battle are also impressive. While he did not finish his first Tour de France in 2001, he was already seventh a year later. After that, he never left the top four spots: 2003 (fourth), 2004 (second), 2005 (first), 2006 (third), 2007 (fourth), 2008 (second). When Hushovd says he is the most consistent, he can make this claim not only for one race, but for all the years that he stayed close to the top.