After a couple of disappointing seasons, Thor Hushovd (BMC) showed in the second half of 2013 that he may have a few more big results in his legs. With his contract expiring at the end of the season, however, he knows that he cannot afford anymore disappointments and is ready to leave BMC if the right offer turns up.

Thor Hushovd was once known as one of cycling's greatest stars. Twice a winner of the green jersey in the Tour de France, a podium finisher in the Paris-Roubaix and 2010 world champion, and a multiple stage winner of the Tour de France, the big Norwegian's palmares would make most other riders envious.

However, the last couple of seasons haven't been up to his usual high standards. After performing excellently in his last year with Garmin when he captured the imagination of the cycling world by winning two Tour stages in the rainbow jersey and wearing the yellow jersey for several days, he signed a lucrative contract with BMC that is reportedly worth 1.8 million Euro a year.

The first two seasons with the wealthy American team has been a long string of disappointments. In 2012 he was plagued by a virus that forced him to end his season in July without winning a single race.

In 2013 he started his season well by winning a stage of the Tour du Haut-Var but by the time his preferred classics rolled around, he was nowhere near the best. Nonetheless, he kept working hard and at the end of the season there were indications that time has not yet caught up with the 36-year-old Norwegian.

Having missed out on selection for the Tour de France, he won his national championships in impressive fashion and went on to take a stage in the Tour of Austria. Later in the summer he won two stages in the WorldTour Tour de Pologne and two stages and the overall in his home race, the Arctic Tour of Norway. He ended his season on a high by winning a stage in the final WorldTour race of the year, the Tour of Beijing.

His contract expires at the end of the season and despite his recent success he knows that his performances have not met the standards that were expected from him. He faces a big challenge in the spring classics where he needs to prove that he is still among the best.

"If I ride well, I will prove that I am still one of the big guys," he told VG at the BMC media day in Denia. "And I need to do that if I want to have another contract offer.

"I am still regarded as one of the captains but that is not a role you have, it is one you have to work hard to get," he added. "I need to prove that I am strong and one of the best when we start to race."

Hushovd has been happy at his current team but opens the door for other offers.

"I am doing fine at BMC and could stay here," he said. "At the same time I am open to offers."

Hushovd will start his season next Wednesday at the Tour of Dubai and he hopes to come out with all guns blazing.

"I want to be ready from the start of the season and win races," he said. "Het Nieuwsblad is not the biggest victory you can get but it would be a nice win. The same can be said of the race in Dubai next week.

"I probably had a different mindset regarding these things before I was ill," he added. "I realized that you cannot take anything for granted. You need to take the chances you get."

Hushovd is not the only star who has had disappointing performances in BMC colours. Philippe Gilbert has never reached his lofty 2011 heights again and after winning the 2011 Tour de France, Cadel Evans has had a couple of illness-plagued seasons.

After the Tour de France, sports director John Lelangue left the team and has been replaced by Valerio Piva. A number of changes are planned that should see the team live up to the high expectations.

"There will be changes in the team for this season," Hushovd said. "It is about the way we handle the races tactically. But we will keep it internally. It is also about sending riders to races where they can do well. Now we had Cadel Evans doing the Tour Down Under. He didn't do that in the past. And it gave us a lot of important WorldTour points."

"We will be more offensive than we have sometimes been in the past. Like [manager] Jim Ochowicz says: It is all about the wins."

Hushovd still hasn't decided when it is time to end his career. Norway has announced its candidacy to host the 2017 World Championships but the greatest Norwegian cyclist of his generation doesn't think that he will be at the start line if the application is successful.

"That's a long time away," he said. "I will be 39 at that time. The plan is not to continue for so long."