Thor Hushovd

From Free net encyclopedia

Thor Hushovd (born january 18, 1978 in Grimstad, Norway) is a professional road bicycle racer since 2000. He won the Tour de Normandie in 2001. As the first Norwegian to do so, Hushovd managed to gain the yellow jersey in the Tour de France — a feat he achieved after stage two of the 2004 Tour de France. He had to give the jersey back the next day, after he had been involved in a mass crash during the stage from Waterloo to Wasquehal.

In the 1998 season, before turning a professional, 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 Hushovd wants to win before he ends his career.

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

Hushovd has two individual stage victories, one team trial victory and has won the green jersey once in Tour de France:

In the 2001 Tour de France his team Crédit Agricole won the 5th stage, a team trial.
In the 2002 Tour de France Hushovd won the 18th stage.
In the 2003 Tour de France Hushovd finished 4th in the points classification.
In the 2004 Tour de France Hushovd won the 8th stage, and finished 2nd in the points classification. He also wore the maillot jaune, or the yellow jersey, during one stage.
In the 2005 Tour de France Hushovd gained the green jersey as the best sprinter in the 12th stage and kept it all the way to the finish.