Thor Hushovd
_(cropped).jpg) 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, Aust-Agder, Norway |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Weight | 79 kg (174 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Captain |
| Rider type |
Sprinter Classic specialist |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 2000–2008 | Crédit Agricole |
| 2009–2010 | Cervélo TestTeam |
| 2011 | Garmin–Cervélo |
| 2012–2014 | BMC Racing Team |
| Major wins | |
| |
Medal record
| |
|
Infobox last updated on 30 March 2014 | |
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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]
Career
Born in Grimstad, Aust-Agder, Norway, Hushovd 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. 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
In 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 Hushovd 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
On 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, Hushovd 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 267km race, beating Denmark’s Matti Breschel and Australia’s Allan Davis." The favorite, Philippe Gilbert, was caught with three kilometers to go.[12]
2011
During the 2011 Tour de France Hushovd claimed the Maillot Jaune 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. Hushovd surprised his fans again on stage 13 by being one of the first riders over the Hors Categorie 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 Moncoutie 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 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] Hushovd 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
Hushovd 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
In 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]
2015 Hushovd 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]
Doping
In his autobiography Hushovd claimed Lance Armstrong admitted to him in 2011 that he doped.[22] Hushovd denies ever doping.
Personal life
Hushovd currently resides in Monte Carlo,[23][24] with his wife Susanne,[25] and their daughter Isabel (b. 2009).[26] The Hushovds also maintain an offseason residency in Grimstad, Aust-Agder, Norway.[27]
Career achievements
Major results
- 1998
- 1st
UCI World Under-23 Time Trial Championships - 1st Paris–Roubaix Espoirs
- 1st Paris–Tours Espoirs
- 2000
- 6th Olympic Games Time Trial
- 2001
- 1st Stage 5 TTT Tour de France
- 1st Overall Tour de Normandie
- 1st
Points classification
- 1st
- 1st Overall Tour of Sweden
- 1st Overall Paris–Corrèze
- 2002
- 1st Stage 18 Tour de France
- 1st Stage 2 Tour de l'Ain
- 2003
- 1st Stage 2 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- 1st Stage 1 Vuelta a Castilla y León
- 2004
- 1st
National Time Trial Championships - 1st National Road Race Championships
- 1st Stage 8 Tour de France
- 1st Stage 1 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- 1st Overall Coupe de France de cyclisme sur route
- 1st Classic Haribo
- 1st Grand Prix de Denain
- 1st Tour de Vendée
- 2005
- 1st National Time Trial Championships
- 1st Points classification Tour de France
- Volta a Catalunya
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stage 7
- 1st
- 1st Stage 5 Vuelta a España
- 1st Stage 2 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- 3rd Milan–San Remo
- 2006
- Tour de France
- 1st Prologue & Stage 20
- Vuelta a España
- 1st
Points classification - 1st Stage 6
- 1st
- 1st Gent–Wevelgem
- 1st Stage 7 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- 1st Stage 4 Tirreno–Adriatico
- Volta a Catalunya
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stage 3
- 1st
- 1st Points classification Four Days of Dunkirk
- 2007
- 1st Stage 7 Giro d'Italia
- 1st Stage 4 Tour de France
- 2008
- Volta a Catalunya
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Prologue & Stage 1
- 1st
- Paris–Nice
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Prologue
- 1st
- 1st Stage 1 Tour Méditerranéen
- 1st Stage 6 Four Days of Dunkirk
- 1st Stage 2 Tour de France
- 2009
- Tour de France
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stage 6
- Stage 17 Combativity award
- 1st
- Tour of Missouri
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stage 3
- 1st
- 1st Stage 3 Tour of California
- 1st Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- Volta a Catalunya
- 1st Stages 1 & 6
- 1st Stage 4 Tour du Poitou Charentes et de la Vienne
- 3rd Paris–Roubaix
- 3rd Milan–San Remo
- 2010
- 1st UCI Road Race World Championship
- 1st National Road Race Championships
- 1st Stage 3 Tour de France
- 1st Stage 6 Vuelta a España
- 2nd Paris–Roubaix
- 2011
- Tour de France
- 1st Stages 2 (TTT), 13 & 16
- Held Maillot Jaune
from Stage 2 to Stage 9
- 1st Stage 4 Tour de Suisse
- 1st Stage 4 Tour of Britain
- 8th Paris–Roubaix
- 2013
- 1st National Road Race Championships
- 1st Overall Arctic Race of Norway
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 2 & 4
- 1st
- Tour de Pologne
- 1st Stages 3 & 5
- 1st Stage 3 Tour of Austria
- 1st Stage 1 Tour of Beijing
- 2nd National Time Trial Championships
- 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
| Grand Tour | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro |
— | — | — | — | — | — | WD | — | — | — | — | WD | — | — |
| Tour |
WD | 112 | 118 | 104 | 116 | 120 | 138 | 96 | 106 | 111 | 68 | — | — | — |
 Vuelta |
— | — | — | — | WD | 82 | — | — | — | WD | — | — | — | — |
WD = Withdrew; In Progress = IP
References
- ↑ "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.
- 1 2 "Gallery: Thor Hushovd's career in photos". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 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. BBC © 2012. 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". 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. Future Publishing Limited. 17 October 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
- ↑ "Hushovd wins Tour du Haut Var opener". Cyclingnews. Future Publishing Limited. 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". http://velonews.competitor.com/. Velo News. Retrieved 27 June 2014. External link in
|website=(help) - ↑ "Hushovd rules himself out of Worlds". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 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.
- ↑ "Hushovd knew about Armstrong doping". Road cc. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- ↑ NBC athlete profile
- ↑ Hushovd frustrert over Contador-avgjørelse
- ↑ Hushovd flytter til Monaco
- ↑ A daughter for Hushovd
- ↑ Susanne Hushovd har alltid akseptert at syklingen er førsteprioritet for ektemannen.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thor Hushovd. |
- Official website
- Thor Hushovd at Sports Reference
- Thor Hushovd profile at Cycling Quotient
- Thor Hushovd profile at Cycling Archives
- Thor Hushovd profile at ProCyclingStats
- Thor Hushovd on Twitter
- Thor Hushovd at Trap-Friis.dk. Archive copy at the Wayback Machine (archived 24 May 2011)
- Palmares at Cycling Base
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Petter Northug |
Norwegian Sportsperson of the Year 2010 |
Succeeded by Alexander Dale Oen |