Thor Hushovd

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**Thor Hushovd**
Personal information

Full name	Thor Hushovd
Nickname	The bull from Grimstad
Date of birth	January 18, 1978
Country	Norway
Team information
Current team	Crédit Agricole
ProTour rank	11
Rider type	Sprinter
Professional team(s)
2000-present	Crédit Agricole
Major wins
4 stages Tour de France 2 stages Vuelta a España 1x Gent-Wevelgem 1x Points Classification Tour de France 1x Points Classification Vuelta a España

Thor Hushovd (born January 18, 1978 in Grimstad, Norway) has been a professional road bicycle racer since 2000. Known for his rather large size at 183 cm, 81.3 kg, he won the Tour de Normandie in 2001. He is also the first Norwegian to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France — a feat he achieved after stage two of the 2004 and the first and third stage of the 2006.

Before turning a professional in 1998, Hushovd won the U23 Time-Trial World Championship and the U23-versions of the two bicycle classics Paris-Roubaix and Paris-Tours. The real Paris-Roubaix is one of the races that Hushovd wants to win before the end of his career.

Hushovd is currently a member of the 2006 Crédit Agricole cycling team. He has twice been the Norwegian Time Trial National Champion (2004 and 2005) and once the Road Race Norwegian Champion (2004). He was also the World Under-23 Time Trial Champion, adding Time Trial to his already impressive sprinting skills.

In 2006, Thor Hushovd has already won 7 UCI ProTour victories, including two stages of the 93rd Tour de France. Hushovd won the prologue in Strasbourg and wore the maillot jaune after the first day despite a cut suffered seconds before the finish of Stage 1 due to spectator interference. As the cut was not serious, he continued the tour with stitches in his arm and regained the maillot jaune after Stage 2 with a third place finish. And just as the Tour de France 2006 started with Hushovd, it also ended with him winning the last stage after beating Robbie McEwen in a strong finishing sprint. In the 2006 Vuelta a España he won stage 6, wore the golden jersey for three stages and also won the points classification.

[edit] Major achievements

2006 – Crédit Agricole

Finished 11th i UCI ProTour 2006
Prologue and Stage 20 - Tour de France
- 1st (after Prologue), General Classification – maillot jaune (2nd career yellow jersey, 1 day)
- 1st (after Stage 2), General Classification - maillot jaune (3rd career yellow jersey, 1 day)
- 3rd, points classification
Stage 6 and Points Classification - Vuelta a España
- 1st (after Stage 2), General Classification - golden jersey (1st career golden jersey, 3 days)
- 2nd place on five stages
Gent-Wevelgem
Stage 7 – Dauphiné Libéré
Stage 4 — Tirreno-Adriatico
Points Classification and Stage 3 – Tour of Catalonia
- 1st (after Stage 3), General Classification - leader's jersey (one day)
Points Classification – Four Days of Dunkirk

2005 – Crédit Agricole

Finished 34th in UCI ProTour 2005
Norway National Time Trial Cycling Champion
Points Classification and Stage 7 – Tour of Catalonia
Points Classification and 2nd, Stage 18 – Tour de France : maillot vert (or green jersey)
Stage 5 – Vuelta a España
- 1st (after stages 5-10), Points Classification - fish jersey

2004 – Crédit Agricole

Norway National Time Trial Cycling Champion
Norway National Road Race Cycling Champion
Stage 8 and 2nd, Points Classification – Tour de France
- 1st (after Stage 2), General Classification – maillot jaune (or yellow jersey), (first career yellow jersey, 1 day)
Overall (Series of 15 races) – Coupe de France de cyclisme sur route
- Classic Haribo
- Grand Prix de Denain
- Tour de Vendée
- 3rd – Cholet-Pays de Loire