Earlier today the management behind Team BMC Racing announced that Thor Hushovd will not take part in the Tour de France 2012. According to a team spokesman, Hushovd will instead participate in the Tour de Pologne in an attempt to continue his recovery from the viral infection he's suffered from for several months now.

Hushovd has not raced since withdrawing from this year's Giro d'Italia on May 10 after stage 5 of the Grand Tour. The decision to exclude Hushovd from this year's Tour de France will come as a chock to Hushovd's many loyal Norwegian fans.

Team BMC Racing's chief medical officer Dr. Max Testa stated the former world road champion is in good health, but is not adequately prepared for the rigors of a grand tour.

"We did perform some tests at the Mapei Sport Center after the Giro and found that he had signs of a viral infection from earlier in the year," Testa explained and assures fans that "everything now is normal."

According to Team BMC Racing sports director John Lelangue the decision for Hushovd to skip this year's Tour de France was not an easy one. "We obviously would have liked to have had him on our Tour de France team," Lelangue explained and continued "But after evaluating everything, we think this program will better help him meet his own goals.

Hushovd agreed, saying he will use the time between now and the start of the Tour de Pologne to prepare himself for some of the most important races on his program in the remaining part of the 2012 season.

"I needed more time to recover and it's always been a goal of mine to do well at the Olympics," Hushovd commented and added "I also hope to be a part of the BMC Racing Team's team time trial squad at the world championships and to compete in the road race as well. So there are still a lot of goals left to prove to myself this year."

Hushovd said the change to his program means he does no longer intend to compete in the 2012 Norwegian national road championships at the end of June.

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