Gotta hand it to Thor Hoshovd and the engineer boys at Cervelo.

The Cervelo TestTeam has shown strength thus far this season, showing exquisite teammate and driving a number of races to date. 

The new team made its mark at the Tour of Qatar, when Roger Hammond won the second stage to get the yellow jersery and with Heinrich Haussler contending for victory each day after that. Haussler then won two stages at the Volta ao Algarve, while Hushovd won the first stage at the Tour of California.

Hushovd added a victory Saturday in Belgium at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, a 120-plus-mile race that opens the spring classics. He sprinted to beat Kevyn Ista of Agritubel and Juan Antonio Flecha of Rabobank after an elite chase group caught the two-man breakaway, including Hushovd’s Cervelo teammate Haussler, near the finishing line.

One of the pre-race favourites, Big Tom Boonen of Quick Step, didn’t contend after nearly going down to escape a crash in which Filippo Pozzato of Katusha went down avoiding one of the breakaway men, Sebastian Langeveld of Rabobank.

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