Thor Hushovd (born 18 January 1978) is a Norwegian former professional road bicycle racer.[1] He is known for sprinting and time trialing; Hushovd is a three-time Norwegian national road race champion (2004, 2010, 2013),[2] and was the winner of the 2010 World Road Race Championships. He was the first Norwegian to lead the Tour de France, and first Scandinavian to win the road race in cycling world road championship. He is also the Scandinavian with the most stage wins in Grand Tours. He is widely considered the greatest Norwegian cyclist of all time. He retired in September 2014.[3]
 Hushovd at the 2011 Tour of California | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thor Hushovd | ||||||||||||||
| Nickname | The God of Thunder The Bull from Grimstad | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 18 January 1978 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
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Medal record
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Career
editBorn in Grimstad, Aust-Agder, Norway, Thor won the under-23 time trial world championship and the under-23 versions of Paris–Roubaix and Paris–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 seven UCI ProTour races and two stages of the Tour de France. He won the prologue in Strasbourg 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, beating Robbie 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 the 2006 Vuelta a España he won stage 6, wore the golden jersey for three stages and won the points classification
At the 2008 Tour de France, Hushovd won stage 2 in a bunch finish.[4]
2009
editIn 2009, Hushovd rode for the Cervélo TestTeam.[5] He took one of the team's first victories of the season by winning Stage 3 of the Tour of California. At the Tour de France, he won green jersey for the points classification for the second time, ahead of Mark 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 on stage 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.
2010
editOn 9 May 2010, Hushovd broke his collarbone on a training ride after colliding with a young girl.[8] At the Tour de France, Hushovd won the third stage, which was an unusual one for the Tour since it featured 13 km (8.1 mi) of cobblestones. He prevailed in the sprint involving five other riders.[9] That victory netted him the Green jersey, but he ultimately lost it to Alessandro Petacchi of the Lampre–Farnese Vini team.
On 3 October 2010, Thor won the road world championship, which started in Melbourne and finished in Geelong, 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's Matti Breschel and Australia's Allan Davis." The favorite, Philippe Gilbert, was caught with three kilometers to go.[12]
2011
editDuring the 2011 Tour de France Hushovd took the lead in the general classification and surprised many by keeping it through several hilly stages that were not expected to suit him and second placed Cadel 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 catégorie Col d'Aubisque and using his superior descending skills (he was clocked at 69 mph at one point) to catch and pass the leaders David Moncoutié and Jérémy Roy to take the stage. He used his descending skills again on stage 16 when he, Edvald Boasson Hagen and teammate Ryder Hesjedal went clear on the descent of the Col de Manse (a descent that overall runner up Andy Schleck deemed too dangerous for the tour) and beat Boasson Hagen in the final sprint to take his second stage of the tour.
2012
editIn 2012, Hushovd joined BMC Racing Team on a three-year contract.[13] Suffering from a then unknown medical condition, he had to abandon the Giro d'Italia and cancelled his scheduled participation to the Tour de France and Olympic 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 at Paris–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]
2013
editHushovd earned his first win since the 2011 Tour of Britain with a sprint victory over Tom-Jelte Slagter of Blanco Pro Cycling on stage 1 of the Tour du Haut Var in February. It was also his first victory with BMC Racing Team.[17]
Retirement
editIn June 2014, Hushovd announced that he would retire after the 2014 UCI Road World Championships after struggling with Infectious mononucleosis since 2012.[18][19] However, after a hard crash suffered at the Tour du Poitou-Charentes, Hushovd said he would not participate in the World Championships.[20] His last race was the GP Impanis-Van Petegem in September.[3]
In 2015 Thor announced that he had started working on organizing an all-Norwegian UCI WorldTeam, with a plan to launch in the 2017 season to coincide with the hosting of the 2017 UCI Road World Championships in the Norwegian city of Bergen.[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 team Uno-X was established. The team achieved UCI 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 the ASO in Uno-X's mission for a Wild Card to the 2023 Tour de France.[24] In January 2024, Uno-X announced that Hushovd would become their new General Manager.[25]
Personal life
editThor currently resides in Monte Carlo, Monaco,[26][27] with his wife Susanne,[28] and their daughter Isabel (b. 2009).[29] The Hushovds also maintain an offseason residency in Grimstad, Aust-Agder, Norway.[30]
Career achievements
editMajor results
edit- 1995
- 1st
Time trial, National Junior Road Championships
- 1996
- National Junior Road Championships
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st
- 1998
- UCI Road World Under-23 Championships
- 1st
Time trial
- 5th Road race
- 1st
- 1st Paris–Roubaix Espoirs
- 1st Paris–Tours Espoirs
- 5th Overall Tour of Sweden
- 1999 (1 pro win)
- 1st
Overall Ringerike GP
- 1st Stages 2, 4 & 5
- 1st Tour du Loir-et-Cher
- 1st Stage 5 Tour of Sweden
- 6th Time trial, UCI Road World Under-23 Championships
- 6th Overall Ronde de l'Isard
- 2000 (1)
- 1st Stage 1 Tour de Picardie
- 1st Prologue Tour de l'Ain
- 2nd Overall Ringerike GP
- 1st Stages 3, 4 & 5
- 2nd Grand Prix de Denain
- 4th Overall Bayern Rundfahrt
- 4th Giro della Provincia di Siracusa
- 5th HEW Cyclassics
- 7th Time trial, Olympic Games
- 2001 (4)
- 1st
- 1st
Points classification
- 1st Prologue, Stages 1 & 4
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st Stages 1a (ITT) & 3
- 1st
- 1st Stage 5 (TTT) Tour de France
- 4th Paris–Tours
- 9th Grand Prix de Villers-Cotterêts
- 2002 (3)
- National Road Championships
- 1st
- 3rd Road race
- 1st
- 1st Stage 18 Tour de France
- 1st Stage 2 Tour de l'Ain
- 5th Overall Étoile de Bessèges
- 6th Overall Tour du Poitou Charentes et de la Vienne
- 8th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (with Anthony Morin)
- 2003 (3)
- 1st Grote Prijs Jef Scherens
- 1st Stage 2 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- 1st Stage 1 Vuelta a Castilla y León
- 3rd Overall Tour du Limousin
- 5th Overall Tour Méditerranéen
- 7th Overall Tour du Poitou Charentes et de la Vienne
- 10th GP Ouest–France
- 2004 (10)
- National Road Championships
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st Overall French Road Cycling Cup
- 1st Grand Prix de Denain
- 1st Classic Haribo
- 1st Tour de Vendée
- 1st Stage 8 Tour de France
- 1st Stage 1 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- Tour du Languedoc-Roussillon
- 1st
- 1st Stages 1 & 2
- 1st
- 3rd Grand Prix de Cholet – Pays de Loire
- 3rd Grand Prix de Fourmies
- 5th Overall Critérium International
- 7th Ronde van Midden-Zeeland
- 8th Grand Prix de Villers-Cotterêts
- 8th Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan
- 9th Overall Étoile de Bessèges
- 1st Stage 3
- 2005 (5)
- 1st
- Volta a Catalunya
- 1st
- 1st Stage 7
- 1st
- 1st Stage 5 Vuelta a España
- 1st Stage 2 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- 1st Stage 4 Tour du Limousin
- 1st
- 3rd Milan–San Remo
- 5th Gent–Wevelgem
- 6th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
- 1st Stage 1
- 9th Paris–Roubaix
- 2006 (7)
- 1st Gent–Wevelgem
- Tour de France
- 1st Prologue & Stage 20
- Held
- Vuelta a España
- 1st
Points classification
- 1st Stage 6
- Held
after Stages 2–4
- 1st
- Volta a Catalunya
- 1st
- 1st Stage 3
- 1st
- 1st Stage 7 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- 1st Stage 4 Tirreno–Adriatico
- 1st
- 2nd Classic Haribo
- 4th Paris–Tours
- 2007 (2)
- 1st Stage 4 Tour de France
- 1st Stage 7 Giro d'Italia
- 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
- 2nd GP Ouest–France
- 3rd Grand Prix de Wallonie
- 4th Paris–Bourges
- 5th Grand Prix d'Isbergues
- 8th Paris–Tours
- 8th Paris–Brussels
- 2008 (6)
- 1st Stage 2 Tour de France
- 1st Stage 1 Tour Méditerranéen
- 1st Stage 6 Four Days of Dunkirk
- Volta a Catalunya
- 1st
- 1st Prologue & Stage 1
- 1st
- Paris–Nice
- 1st
- 1st Prologue
- 1st
- 3rd Omloop Het Volk
- 9th Milan–San Remo
- 2009 (7)
- 1st Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- Tour de France
- 1st
- 1st Stage 6
Combativity award Stage 17
- 1st
- Volta a Catalunya
- 1st Stages 1 & 6
- Tour of Missouri
- 1st
- 1st Stage 3
- 1st
- 1st Stage 3 Tour of California
- 1st Stage 4 Tour du Poitou Charentes et de la Vienne
- 3rd Road race, National Road Championships
- 3rd Paris–Roubaix
- 3rd Milan–San Remo
- 4th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
- 5th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
- 2010 (5)
- 1st
Road race, UCI Road World Championships
- 1st
- 1st Stage 3 Tour de France
- 1st Stage 6 Vuelta a España
- 2nd Paris–Roubaix
- 6th Milan–San Remo
- 6th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
- 2011 (4)
- Tour de France
- 1st Stages 2 (TTT), 13 & 16
- Held
- 1st Stage 4 Tour de Suisse
- 1st Stage 4 Tour of Britain
- 3rd Road race, National Road Championships
- 4th GP Ouest–France
- 8th Paris–Roubaix
- 2013 (9)
- National Road Championships
- 1st
- 2nd Time trial
- 1st
- 1st
Overall Arctic Race of Norway
- 1st
- 1st Stages 2 & 4
- 1st
- Tour de Pologne
- 1st Stages 3 & 5
- 1st Stage 3 Tour of Austria
- 1st Stage 1 Tour of Beijing
- 4th Grand Prix d'Isbergues
- 5th Overall Tour du Haut Var
- 1st Stage 1
- 6th GP Ouest–France
- 8th Vattenfall Cyclassics
- 2014
- 9th Gent–Wevelgem
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
edit| Grand Tour | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | |
| DNF | 112 | 118 | 104 | 116 | 120 | 138 | 96 | 106 | 111 | 68 | — | — | — | |
| — | — | — | — | DNF | 82 | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | — |
Classics results timeline
edit| 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Major championships timeline
edit| Event | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time trial | 7 | Not held | 31 | Not held | — | Not held | — | NH | |||||||
| Road race | DNF | DNF | — | — | |||||||||||
| Time trial | 22 | — | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Road race | 109 | — | 142 | — | — | 114 | 114 | 19 | — | DNF | 1 | 170 | — | DNF | |
| Time trial | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | |
| Road race | 7 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | 2 | — | 3 | 1 | 3 | — | 1 | |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
References
edit- ^ "World champion Thor Hushovd signs three-year deal with BMC Racing Team". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. 9 August 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- ^ "National Championship, Road, Elite, Norway". Cycling Archives. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
- ^ a b "Gallery: Thor Hushovd's career in photos". Cyclingnews.com. 20 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ^ Hushovd happy after Tour de France win, Aftenposten 7 July 2008
- ^ "Thor Hushovd has signed with the new Cervelo TestTeam" (9 Sep. 2008) VeloNews.com. Retrieved 10 March 2010
- ^ "Embarrassed Cavendish apologises for outburst". BBC Sport. 24 July 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2009.
- ^ Gregor Brown (23 July 2009). "Hushovd attacks solo for green jersey respect". Cycling News. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
- ^ Hushovd sidelined with broken collarbone VeloNews.
- ^ "Tour de France: Hushovd wins but Thomas into second". BBC Sport. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ "Thor Hushovd wins world road racing title" (3 Oct. 2010) VeloNews.com. Retrieved 10 March 2010
- ^ King Thor roars to Worlds victory CyclingNews.com. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
- ^ "Thor Hushovd wins the rainbow jersey for Norway". Cycling Weekly. 3 October 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
- ^ Brian Holcombe (9 August 2013). "Hushovd joins new BMC super team". VeloNews. Competitor Group, Inc. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
- ^ "London 2012 Olympics: Thor Hushovd ruled out of Games". The Daily Telegraph. 16 July 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- ^ "BMC doc blames virus, muscle inflammation for Hushovd's poor season". Velo News. 2012 Competitor Group, Inc. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
- ^ "Hushovd motivated for future after lost 2012 season". Cycling News. 17 October 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
- ^ "Hushovd wins Tour du Haut Var opener". Cyclingnews. 16 February 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
- ^ "Hushovd, winner of 10 Tour de France stages, quits". Yahoo! Sports. 27 June 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
- ^ "Hushovd to retire at season's end". VeloNews. Competitor Group, Inc. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
- ^ "Hushovd rules himself out of Worlds". Cyclingnews.com. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
- ^ "News shorts: Hushovd aiming to create Norwegian WorldTour team". Cyclingnews.com. 25 July 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
- ^ Gørbitz, Peter Andreas Prydz (23 June 2016). "Norsk profflag satt på vent" [Norwegian pro team put on hold]. Landevei (in Norwegian).
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.] - ^ Markussen, Erik Rustad (7 July 2017). "Thor Hushovd drømmer fortsatt om norsk profflag" [Thor Hushovd still dreams of Norwegian pro team] (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ Olsen, Sindre J. (1 April 2023). "Slik hjalp Hushovd Uno-X til Tour de France" [This is how Hushovd helped Uno-X to the Tour de France]. TV 2 Sport (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ "Thor Hushovd becomes General Manager of Uno-X Mobility Cycling". Uno-X Mobility. 22 January 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ "Page not found – NBC Olympics".
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ Tingve, Pål Marius (3 June 2011). "Hushovd frustrert over Contador-avgjørelse".
- ^ Hushovd flytter til Monaco Archived 2 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "A daughter for Hushovd – Cyclingnews.com".
- ^ "Sykkelfrue og hjelperytter – mamma". Archived from the original on 3 March 2014.
External links
edit- Thor Hushovd at UCI
- Thor Hushovd at Cycling Archives
- Thor Hushovd at ProCyclingStats
- Thor Hushovd at Cycling Quotient
- Thor Hushovd at CycleBase
- Thor Hushovd at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)