Thor Hushovd facts for kids
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Hushovd at the 2011 Tour of California
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| Personal information | |||
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| Full name | Thor Hushovd | ||
| Nickname | The God of Thunder The Bull from Grimstad |
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| Born | 18 January 1978 Grimstad, Norway |
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| 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 |
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| Rider type | Sprinter Classic specialist |
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| Major wins | |||
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Thor Hushovd (born 18 January 1978) is a famous Norwegian former professional road bicycle racer. He was known for his amazing sprinting skills and also for being good at time trials. Thor Hushovd won the Norwegian national road race championship three times (in 2004, 2010, and 2013). He also won the World Road Race Championships in 2010.
He made history as the first Norwegian to wear the yellow jersey, which means leading the Tour de France. He was also the first person from Scandinavia to win the world road championship. Many people consider him the greatest Norwegian cyclist ever. He stopped racing professionally in September 2014.
Contents
Thor Hushovd's Cycling Journey
Thor Hushovd was born in Grimstad, Norway. Before becoming a professional cyclist in 1998, he won several important races. He won the under-23 world championship in time trial. He also won the under-23 versions of famous races like Paris–Roubaix and Paris–Tours.
He became the Norwegian time trial champion in 2004 and 2005. He also won the road race championship in 2004 and 2010. In 2006, he had a fantastic year. He won seven UCI ProTour races. He also won two stages in the Tour de France. He won the first part of the race, called the prologue, in Strasbourg. He even led the race after the first day, even though he had a cut on his arm! He kept racing with stitches. He got the yellow jersey back after stage 2. He then won the very last stage of the Tour. This made him the only person to win both the first and last stages of the Tour de France in the same year. In the 2006 Vuelta a España, he won stage 6. He also wore the golden jersey for three stages. He won the points classification for that race.
At the 2008 Tour de France, Hushovd won stage 2. He won in a group sprint finish.
2009: Green Jersey Success
In 2009, Hushovd raced for the Cervélo TestTeam team. He won Stage 3 of the 2009 Tour of California. This was one of his team's first wins that season. At the Tour de France, he won the green jersey. This jersey is for the best sprinter in the points classification. He won it for the second time, beating Mark Cavendish. Even though Cavendish won more stages, Thor's consistent performance helped him win the green jersey. Thor won one stage, stage 6. He also attacked alone on a mountain stage, stage 17. He won two smaller sprints during that tough stage. In September 2009, he won stage 3 at the Tour of Missouri. This was a sprint finish over rolling hills.
2010: World Champion!
On May 9, 2010, Thor Hushovd broke his collarbone. This happened during a training ride after he crashed with a young girl. Despite this injury, he recovered well. At the Tour de France, Hushovd won the third stage. This stage was special because it had 13 km (8.1 mi) of cobblestones. He won a sprint against five other riders. This victory earned him the Green jersey for a while. However, he later lost it to Alessandro Petacchi.
On October 3, 2010, Thor achieved a huge victory. He won the road world championship. The race started in Melbourne and ended in Geelong, Australia. He was the first Norwegian to ever win the famous rainbow jersey. This jersey is worn by the world champion. He won a group sprint at the end of the long 267 km race. He beat Denmark's Matti Breschel and Australia's Allan Davis.
2011: Leading the Tour de France
During the 2011 Tour de France, Hushovd surprised many people. He took the lead in the overall race, wearing the yellow jersey. He managed to keep it through several hilly stages. These stages were not usually suited for a sprinter like him. He surprised his fans again on stage 13. He was one of the first riders over a very tough mountain climb, the Col d'Aubisque. He used his amazing downhill skills to catch and pass the leaders. He was even clocked at 69 mph at one point! He won the stage by beating David Moncoutié and Jérémy Roy. He used his downhill skills again on stage 16. He and his teammates went clear on the descent of the Col de Manse. He then beat Edvald Boasson Hagen in the final sprint. This gave him his second stage win of that Tour.
2012: Facing Challenges
In 2012, Hushovd joined the BMC Racing Team team. He signed a three-year contract. However, he started suffering from an unknown medical problem. He had to leave the Giro d'Italia. He also had to cancel his plans to race in the Tour de France and the Olympic road race. Doctors later found out it was a "virus and muscle inflammation." Thor did not achieve many notable results that year. He finished fourteenth at Paris–Roubaix. In October, he said he hoped to recover and was excited for the 2013 season.
2013: Back to Winning
In February, Hushovd earned his first win since 2011. He won stage 1 of the Tour du Haut Var. This was a sprint victory over Tom-Jelte Slagter. It was also his first win with his new team, BMC Racing Team.
Retirement and New Role
In June 2014, Hushovd announced he would retire after the 2014 UCI Road World Championships. He had been struggling with Infectious mononucleosis since 2012. However, after a bad crash, he decided not to race in the World Championships. His very last race was the GP Impanis-Van Petegem in September.
After retiring, Thor started working on a big project. He wanted to create an all-Norwegian professional cycling team. The goal was to launch it in 2017. This would have been at the same time Norway hosted the 2017 UCI Road World Championships. These plans were put on hold because of a lack of money. However, Hushovd never gave up on his dream.
Later, a Norwegian cycling team called Uno-X was formed. Thor Hushovd was not part of Uno-X at first. But he used his legendary status in cycling to help them. He helped them get a special invitation to the 2023 Tour de France. In January 2024, Uno-X announced that Thor Hushovd would become their new General Manager.
Personal Life
Thor Hushovd lives in Monte Carlo, Monaco. He lives there with his wife Susanne and their daughter Isabel, who was born in 2009. The Hushovds also have a home in Grimstad, Norway, where they stay during the off-season.
Career Achievements
Major Championships Timeline
| 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 |
Images for kids
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Hushovd at the 2011 Tour of California
See also
In Spanish: Thor Hushovd para niños
