I make no secret of the fact that I’m a fan of Thor Hushovd, in fact I think that Mr. Hushovd (who’s name is entered into my spell check, by the way) might have a decent cyber-stalking claim against me, but let’s not dwell on such ugliness. This is a day of celebration! The intrepid Mr. Marco Quezada was able to get a hold of Thor, and was able to forward on some of my questions to him, earning Marco the coveted title of NYVC employee of the month, which doesn’t actually pay anything, but does double the amount of love we show him – as if that was actually possible.

schmalz We’ve managed to build up a little Thor cult here in New York City, and honestly I would have to take most of the credit or blame for that, as I’ve been a big supporter of yours for a while now. It started with our running commentary of the Tour de France two years ago – I slipped in a remark about you SMASHING, as your name is Thor. There’s a Marvel Comic’s character with the same name, that I’m sure you’ve heard of, and I stole the Hulk’s catch phrase to use whenever I typed your name as an homage. And it’s sort of taken off from there. Are you aware of your cult following in New York City?

@##=#<1,L>@##=#THOR I didn’t know about that “cult” until Kim (local racer Kim Riseth knows Thor – ed.) showed me your website. I liked it a lot, and I promise you that if I’m in NYC one day, I will let you know. I would be grateful to train or race in Central Park.

schmalz At the Vegas Interbike show, did someone ask you to sign something with the phrase “SMASH” on it? Did you sign it? And if so, did you call security right afterwards?

THOR I remember that I signed a poster, and that guy asked me if I could put SMASH on it. For sure I did, but didn’t get scared.

schmalz If a rider is poised to make a transition from sprinter to classics winner, there’s a year where they make “the leap”. Your win at Gent-Wevelgem last year appeared to be a signal that you were ready to compete at races of longer distances. Was this year (2007) going to be your year to start winning the longer classics like Roubaix and perhaps Flanders? How has your recent ailments affected this?

@##=#<2,R>@##=#THOR Winning a classic and winning a sprint are not the same. But riders like Boonen, Zabel and me; we are all more then pure sprinters. We are strong as well. So we can win classics and sprints. The problem is to prepare for the classics, you need to do long distances. Because of that, you can loose some of the speed.

But I know that one time I can win Paris-Roubaix and Flanders. I just have to be patient. And I am!

schmalz Are you parents going to be at the Tour again in their camper? Any chance we can get some of your mom’s home cooking if we get to the Tour?

THOR Yes, my parent will be there this year again. My mom cooks the best meatballs in the world 🙂 If you see the camper, just knock on the door!

schmalz I think one of the reasons US fans identify with you is that you don’t come from a traditional cycling powerhouse country and you are much larger than the average pro cyclist (but not a huge person by normal standards), so you tend to stand out more. How did these two factors (being from Norway and being a larger cyclist) help shape your career?

@##=#<3,L>@##=#THOR Being a large cyclist, it’s hard when I have to climb the big mountains. But good in the sprints and in the descents. If some small climber tries to take my position in the field, I just smash him, and he’s gone. 🙂 But being a Norwegian doesn’t change too much, except that some think I’m a bit different – who could become a rider from a snowy country?

schmalz Are you harder on equipment than your teammates?

THOR If you ask my mechanics, they say I am. I often break wheels…

schmalz It seems like we moved into a phase when teams aren’t dedicating a whole team to winning sprints like in the Cipollini “red train” era. How does this affect the way the finishes are played out? Are they more erratic or dangerous?

THOR It’s more dangerous when there is no lead out teams. Petacchi’s team is good, but not as Cippolini’s team was before. It seems like everybody is trying now. Before everybody just expected that Saeco was the main team in the sprint. Maybe there is less respect now. I like when it’s going fast with one team in front. Don’t like waves and shit…

schmalz Sprinters seem to be in a fraternity of their own, and they are able to forget their battles against each other pretty quickly. Are there any sprints that you have bad memories of?

THOR There are always some sprints that I can’t forget. But that is mostly where I can go back, and see where I made some mistakes. I hate that!!!

schmalz You seem to be a more powerful sprinter like a Tom Boonen, as opposed to a punchier sprinter like McEwen or Freire. In a finale, who do you keep the closest watch on?

THOR McEwen and Freire are fast in the last 200m, and they move well in the field. Me and Boonen are more powerful, and need a hard final. But I don’t care, I gonna SMASH them anyway.

And that’s where my questions end. I would like to thank Thor for being a very good sport and not going all “cease and desist” on us, and if he ever needs to talk or share feelings, he knows where to come. I wonder if we can somehow convince him to come to NYC for a night of roller racing…