Thor Hushovd



Thor Hushovd (born 18 January 1978) is a Norwegian former professional road bicycle racer. He is known for sprinting and time trialing; Hushovd is a three-time Norwegian national road race champion (2004, 2010, 2013), 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.

Career
Born 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.

2009
In 2009, Hushovd rode for the. 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. Hushovd won stage 3 at the Tour of Missouri – 114 mi over rolling hills – in September 2009, in a sprint finish.

2010
On 9 May 2010, Hushovd broke his collarbone on a training ride after colliding with a young girl. At the Tour de France, Hushovd won the third stage, which was an unusual one for the Tour since it featured 13 km of cobblestones. He prevailed in the sprint involving five other riders. That victory netted him the Green jersey, but he ultimately lost it to Alessandro Petacchi of the 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. 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.

2011
During 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
In 2012, Hushovd joined on a three-year contract. 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. The medical impairment was later identified as a "virus and muscle inflammation" by team doctors. 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.

2013
Hushovd earned his first win since the 2011 Tour of Britain with a sprint victory over Tom-Jelte Slagter of on stage 1 of the Tour du Haut Var in February. It was also his first victory with.

Retirement
In June 2014, Hushovd announced that he would retire after the 2014 UCI Road World Championships after struggling with Infectious mononucleosis since 2012. However, after a hard crash suffered at the Tour du Poitou-Charentes, Hushovd said he would not participate in the World Championships. His last race was the GP Impanis-Van Petegem in September.

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. The plans were put on hold due to lack of funding, although Hushovd never abandonded them.

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. In January 2024, Uno-X announced that Hushovd would become their new General Manager.

Personal life
Thor currently resides in Monte Carlo, Monaco, with his wife Susanne, and their daughter Isabel (b. 2009). The Hushovds also maintain an offseason residency in Grimstad, Aust-Agder, Norway.

Major results

 * 1995
 * 1st MaillotNoruega.PNG Time trial, National Junior Road Championships


 * 1996
 * National Junior Road Championships
 * 1st MaillotNoruega.PNG Road race
 * 1st MaillotNoruega.PNG Time trial


 * 1998
 * UCI Road World Under-23 Championships
 * 1st Jersey rainbow chrono.svg Time trial
 * 5th Road race
 * 1st Paris–Roubaix Espoirs
 * 1st Paris–Tours Espoirs
 * 5th Overall Tour of Sweden


 * 1999
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg 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
 * 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
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour de Normandie
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 1st Prologue, Stages 1 & 4
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour of Sweden
 * 1st Stages 1a (ITT) & 3
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Paris–Corrèze
 * 1st Stage 5 (TTT) Tour de France
 * 4th Paris–Tours
 * 9th Grand Prix de Villers-Cotterêts


 * 2002
 * National Road Championships
 * 1st MaillotNoruega.PNG Time trial
 * 3rd Road race
 * 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
 * 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
 * National Road Championships
 * 1st MaillotNoruega.PNG Road race
 * 1st MaillotNoruega.PNG Time trial
 * 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 Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 1st Stages 1 & 2
 * 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
 * 1st MaillotNoruega.PNG Time trial, National Road Championships
 * Volta a Catalunya
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 1st Stage 7
 * 1st Stage 5 Vuelta a España
 * 1st Stage 2 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 1st Stage 4 Tour du Limousin
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification, Tour de France
 * 3rd Milan–San Remo
 * 5th Gent–Wevelgem
 * 6th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
 * 1st Stage 1
 * 9th Paris–Roubaix


 * 2006
 * 1st Gent–Wevelgem
 * Tour de France
 * 1st Prologue & Stage 20
 * Held Jersey yellow.svg after Stages 1 & 3
 * Vuelta a España
 * 1st Jersey blue-fish.svg Points classification
 * 1st Stage 6
 * Held Jersey gold.svg after Stages 2–4
 * Volta a Catalunya
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 1st Stage 3
 * 1st Stage 7 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 1st Stage 4 Tirreno–Adriatico
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification, Four Days of Dunkirk
 * 2nd Classic Haribo
 * 4th Paris–Tours


 * 2007
 * 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
 * 1st Stage 2 Tour de France
 * 1st Stage 1 Tour Méditerranéen
 * 1st Stage 6 Four Days of Dunkirk
 * Volta a Catalunya
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 1st Prologue & Stage 1
 * Paris–Nice
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 1st Prologue
 * 3rd Omloop Het Volk
 * 9th Milan–San Remo


 * 2009
 * 1st Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
 * Tour de France
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 1st Stage 6
 * Jersey red number.svg Combativity award Stage 17
 * Volta a Catalunya
 * 1st Stages 1 & 6
 * Tour of Missouri
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 1st Stage 3
 * 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
 * 1st Jersey rainbow.svg Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 1st MaillotNoruega.PNG Road race, National Road Championships
 * 1st Stage 3 Tour de France
 * 1st Stage 6 Vuelta a España
 * 2nd Paris–Roubaix
 * 6th Milan–San Remo
 * 6th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne


 * 2011
 * Tour de France
 * 1st Stages 2 (TTT), 13 & 16
 * Held Jersey yellow.svg from Stage 2–9
 * 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
 * National Road Championships
 * 1st MaillotNoruega.PNG Road race
 * 2nd Time trial
 * 1st Jersey blue.svg Overall Arctic Race of Norway
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 1st Stages 2 & 4
 * 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