Heinrich Haussler Wins Stage 2 of 2010 Tour de Suisse
Cervelo TestTeam's Heinrich Haussler (GER) won stage two at the 2010 Tour de Suisse / Tour of Switzerland 2010 with a superbly timed sprint late in the finish in Sierre.
Cervelo TestTeam's Heinrich Haussler (GER) won stage two at the 2010 Tour de Suisse / Tour of Switzerland 2010 with a superbly timed sprint late in the finish in Sierre.
While many of the big name sprinters were dropped on the last climb, Haussler found the best line through a hectic sprint with a late acceleration. Pablo Urtasun (ESP Euskaltel-Euskadi) took second with Marco Mercato (ITA, Vacansoleil) third. It was the first win of 2010 for Haussler who has been plagued by knee problems so far this season and a very unfortunate drunk driving accident which has certainly damaged his reputation and which will be remembered.
"I definitely feel good about this win. I had been in training and then in the Tour of California but I had to pull out because I still had problems with my knee. So I've been training and I'm getting ready for the Tour now. For me the season really starts here. This definitely gives me confidence for the tour (de France 2010), my form is good now," Heinrich Haussler commented.
"I don't know it was really hard. The last hill no one expected it to be that hard. There were a lot of attacks on the hill with the hill climbers always attacking," Haussler added when interviewed at the stage finish and added "We were riding 30-40 guys and then a small bunch got back together ready to go but I looked around and I was the only one there so I went even harder because I didn't have anyone to help me. But I knew I was going uphill for the last 200 metres and there was some head wind so I waited and waited for the right moment - yeah it was a nice win."
Asked whether he will use the Tour de Suisse race as preparation for the 2010 Tour de France. "Well there are a lot of stages after this that will be really hard so we'll just have to see. I don't want to really go too deep here but if I have the chance for another one or two stages then we'll definitely give it a go."
Team Saxo Bank's Fabian Cancellara retains the overall 20101 Tour of Switzerland lead.