Newly crowned World Champion, Thor Hushovd will honour his Garmin-Cervélo contract despite rumours to the contrary.
"There is no such clause," said Hushovd's agent Alex Carera, "and, in fact, we are meeting tonight for dinner in Milan with Jonathan Vaughters."
Hushovd signed with Jonathan Vaughters' team in August after his Cervélo TestTeam announced it would end its two-year sponsorship run in December. Instead of running its own team, bike manufacturer Cervélo will take on a smaller, secondary sponsor role with Vaughters. Vaughters' team will change name from Garmin-Transitions to Garmin-Cervélo for 2011.
Garmin-Cervélo will also feature an A list of classics riders: Hushovd, Heinrich Haussler, Roger Hammond, Tyler Farrar and Andreas Klier. The fact that the team is well-stocked likely fuelled the rumours that Hushovd is looking for another team.
Belgium's Het Nieuwsblad newspaper reported on Friday that Hushovd has a clause with Vaughters that would free him if he won the World Championships, which he did on October 3 in Geelong, Australia.
"I am strongly interested in Thor," said team Quick Step's boss, Patrick Lefevere. "Hushovd is a consistent and model rider."
Carera and Vaughters quickly cooled Quick Step's and any other team's hopes.
"All the rumours about Thor are pretty entertaining. His contract was filed with the UCI on October 1st, with no buy out clause," Vaughters wrote on Twitter.
"Put more simply: I will pan fry my nuts and eat them if Thor is racing for another team in 2011. How's that for a guarantee?"
Yesterday, prior to making his debut in the Worlds rainbow jersey, Hushovd said that Garmin-Cervélo will be united in its classics campaign.
"We will work together," he said," and make everyone else worry."
Hushovd's goal for next year is to win the one-day race, Paris-Roubaix. This year, after Fabian Cancellara attacked solo for the win, Hushovd won the race for second, his highest placing yet.
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