_(cropped).jpg) Hushovd at the2011 Tour of California | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Thor Hushovd |
| Nickname | The God of Thunder The Bull from Grimstad |
| Born | (1978-01-18)18 January 1978 (age 47) Grimstad, Norway |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Weight | 79 kg (174 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Uno-X Mobility |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider (retired) General Manager |
| Rider type | Sprinter Classic specialist |
| Professional teams | |
| 2000–2008 | Crédit Agricole |
| 2009–2010 | Cervélo TestTeam |
| 2011 | Garmin–Cervélo |
| 2012–2014 | BMC Racing Team |
| Managerial team | |
| 2024- | Uno-X Mobility |
| Major wins | |
Grand Tours
| |
Medal record | |
Thor Hushovd (born 18 January 1978) is a Norwegian former professional road bicycle racer.[1] He is known for sprinting and time trialing, having been a three-timeNorwegian national road race champion (2004, 2010, 2013),[2] and was the winner of the2010World Road Race Championships, making him the first Scandinavian to do so. He was also the first Norwegian to lead theTour de France and is the Scandinavian with the most stage wins inGrand Tours. He is widely considered the greatest Norwegian cyclist of all time. He retired in September 2014.[3]
Born inGrimstad,Aust-Agder, Norway, Thor won the under-23 time trial world championship and the under-23 versions ofParis–Roubaix andParis–Tours before turning professional in 1998. He was Norwegian time trial champion in 2004 and 2005 and road race champion in 2004 and 2010. In 2006, he won sevenUCI ProTour races and two stages of the Tour de France. He won the prologue inStrasbourg and led after the first day despite a cut arm. He continued with stitches and regained the yellow jersey after stage 2 with a third place. He won the last stage, beatingRobbie McEwen in a sprint, thus making him the only person to win the first stage or prologue and the last stage of the Tour de France in the same year. In the2006 Vuelta a España he won stage 6, wore the golden jersey for three stages and won thepoints classification
At the2008 Tour de France, Hushovd won stage 2 in a bunch finish.[4]
In 2009, Hushovd rode for theCervélo TestTeam.[5] He took one of the team's first victories of the season by winning Stage 3 of theTour of California. At theTour de France, he won green jersey for the points classification for the second time, ahead ofMark Cavendish. Typically the sprinter with the most stage victories wins the points classification, though Thor only won one stage,stage 6, while Cavendish won six. After a controversy on stage 14, where Cavendish was relegated to the back of the peloton for impeding Hushovd, Hushovd attacked alone onstage 17, a mountain stage, winning two intermediate sprints.[6][7] Hushovd won stage 3 at the Tour of Missouri – 114 mi (183 km) over rolling hills – in September 2009, in a sprint finish.
On 9 May 2010, Hushovd broke his collarbone on a training ride after colliding with a young girl.[8] At theTour de France, Hushovd won the third stage, which was an unusual one for the Tour since it featured 13 km (8.1 mi) ofcobblestones. He prevailed in the sprint involving five other riders.[9] That victory netted him the Green jersey, but he ultimately lost it toAlessandro Petacchi of theLampre–Farnese Vini team.
On 3 October 2010, Thor won theroad world championship, which started inMelbourne and finished inGeelong, Australia. He was the first Norwegian to win the rainbow jersey.[10][11]VeloNews said: "Hushovd...dominated a bunch sprint at the end of a thrilling 267 km race, beating Denmark'sMatti Breschel and Australia'sAllan Davis." The favorite,Philippe Gilbert, was caught with three kilometers to go.[12]
During the2011 Tour de France Hushovd took the lead in thegeneral classification and surprised many by keeping it through several hilly stages that were not expected to suit him and second placedCadel Evans could not over turn the 1 second advantage that Hushovd held. Thor surprised his fans again on stage 13 by being one of the first riders over the hors catégorieCol d'Aubisque and using his superior descending skills (he was clocked at 69 mph at one point) to catch and pass the leadersDavid Moncoutié andJérémy Roy to take the stage. He used his descending skills again on stage 16 when he,Edvald Boasson Hagen and teammateRyder Hesjedal went clear on the descent of theCol de Manse (a descent that overall runner upAndy Schleck deemed too dangerous for the tour) and beat Boasson Hagen in the final sprint to take his second stage of the tour.
In 2012, Hushovd joinedBMC Racing Team on a three-year contract.[13] Suffering from a then unknown medical condition, he had to abandon theGiro d'Italia and cancelled his scheduled participation to theTour de France andOlympic road race.[14] The medical impairment was later identified as a "virus and muscle inflammation" by team doctors.[15] Thor hardly achieved any notable result in the season except fourteenth atParis–Roubaix. In October, he said that he hoped to put the bad year and the virus that ruined it behind him and that he was optimistic and motivated about the 2013 season.[16]
Hushovd earned his first win since the2011 Tour of Britain with a sprint victory overTom-Jelte Slagter ofBlanco Pro Cycling on stage 1 of theTour du Haut Var in February. It was also his first victory withBMC Racing Team.[17]
In June 2014, Hushovd announced that he would retire after the2014 UCI Road World Championships after struggling withInfectious mononucleosis since 2012.[18][19] However, after a hard crash suffered at theTour du Poitou-Charentes, Hushovd said he would not participate in the World Championships.[20] His last race was theGP Impanis-Van Petegem in September.[3]
In 2015 Thor announced that he had started working on organizing an all-NorwegianUCI WorldTeam, with a plan to launch in the 2017 season to coincide with the hosting of the2017 UCI Road World Championships in the Norwegian city ofBergen.[21] The plans were put on hold due to lack of funding,[22] although Hushovd never abandoned them.[23]
In the meantime, the Norwegian cycling teamUno-X was established. The team achievedUCI ProTeam status in 2020. Hushovd was initially not affiliated with Uno-X, although he used his legendary status in the world of cycling to help influence theASO in Uno-X's mission for a Wild Card to the2023 Tour de France.[24] In January 2024, Uno-X announced that Hushovd would become their new General Manager.[25]
Thor currently resides inMonte Carlo, Monaco,[26][27] with his wife Susanne,[28] their daughter Isabel (b. 2009), and son Niklas (2012).[29][30] The Hushovds also maintain an offseason residency inGrimstad,Aust-Agder, Norway.[31]
Time trial, National Junior Road ChampionshipsRoad raceTime trial
Time trial
OverallRingerike GP OverallTour de Normandie
Points classification OverallTour of Sweden OverallParis–CorrèzeTime trialRoad raceTime trial Points classificationTime trial, National Road Championships Points classificationPoints classification,Tour de France after Stages 1 & 3
Points classification
after Stages 2–4 Points classification Points classification,Four Days of Dunkirk Points classification Points classificationPoints classification
Combativity award Stage 17 Points classification
Road race,UCI Road World ChampionshipsRoad race, National Road Championships from Stage 2–9Road race
OverallArctic Race of Norway Points classification| Grand Tour | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro d'Italia | — | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | — |
| Tour de France | DNF | 112 | 118 | 104 | 116 | 120 | 138 | 96 | 106 | 111 | 68 | — | — | — |
/ Vuelta a España | — | — | — | — | DNF | 82 | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | — |
| Monument | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan–San Remo | — | 48 | 73 | — | — | 3 | 13 | — | 9 | 3 | 6 | 127 | — | DNF | 56 |
| Tour of Flanders | — | 46 | 81 | — | 38 | 31 | 14 | 60 | 27 | — | 57 | 53 | 55 | DNF | 90 |
| Paris–Roubaix | 63 | DNF | 33 | — | 17 | 9 | — | 43 | DNF | 3 | 2 | 8 | 14 | 35 | 19 |
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | Did not contest during his career | ||||||||||||||
| Giro di Lombardia | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | — |
| Classic | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
| Omloop Het Nieuwsblad | DNF | 51 | 18 | 38 | — | DNF | 12 | — | 3 | 1 | 32 | 33 | 29 | 77 | DNF |
| Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne | 41 | 20 | 41 | — | 11 | DNF | DNF | — | 34 | — | 6 | — | — | NH | — |
| E3 Harelbeke | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | DNF | DNF | 4 | DNF | 52 | DNF | DNF | DNF |
| Gent–Wevelgem | — | 11 | 70 | — | DNF | 5 | 1 | 11 | 15 | — | — | 70 | 48 | 17 | 9 |
| Hamburg Cyclassics | 5 | 96 | 23 | 118 | 97 | — | — | 82 | — | — | — | 65 | — | 8 | DNF |
| GP Ouest–France | — | — | — | 10 | — | — | — | 2 | — | DNF | — | 4 | — | 6 | — |
| Paris–Tours | 75 | 4 | 28 | — | — | 23 | 4 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Event | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Olympic Games | Time trial | 7 | Not held | 31 | Not held | — | Not held | — | NH | ||||||
| Road race | DNF | DNF | — | — | |||||||||||
| World Championships | Time trial | 22 | — | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Road race | 109 | — | 142 | — | — | 114 | 114 | 19 | — | DNF | 1 | 170 | — | DNF | |
| National Championships | Time trial | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 |
| Road race | 7 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | 2 | — | 3 | 1 | 3 | — | 1 | |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
I dag annonsert [sic] Thor Hushovd på sin Instagram-profil at han har skrinlagt planene om et norsk profflag i 2017. Mannen med 10 etappeseire i Tour de France skriver videre at han har jobbet hardt for at prosjektet skulle bli en realitet, men at det dessverre ikke har gått i orden likevel.[Today, Thor Hushovd announced on his Instagram account that he has scrapped the plans for a Norwegian pro team in 2017. The man with 10 stage wins in the Tour de France explains that he has worked hard for the project to become a reality, but that unfortunately it did not work out.]
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Norwegian Sportsperson of the Year 2010 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
