In the News: Hushovd building Norwegian WorldTour team
Thor Hushovd, 2010 world road race champion, is starting a Norwegian cycling team, with plans to race in the WorldTour by 2017.
According to a report on TV2, 2010 world road race champion Thor Hushovd is starting a Norwegian cycling team. The plan is to have a Norwegian team in the WorldTour by 2017, the year the world championships take place in Bergen, Norway.
“Norway is now in a ‘bike boom,’ and it will be the world championships in Bergen in 2017, so I think the timing is good now,” Hushovd said.
Building a team capable of WorldTour status is difficult, evident by the demise of the team that two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso was attempting to build. Hushovd though, appears to be on the right track, already claiming to have a sponsor on board for the long term.
Hushovd plans to build a transparent team that is not afraid to work closely with the media. “We will invite the public and media close to us. We’ll try to have a modern team where we focus a lot on social media,” the former world champion said.
The team will be based in Norway and the goal is to have a Norwegian bike sponsor as well. Hushovd wants the team to reflect the heritage of his home country, but he also realizes that building a team solely with Norwegian riders will not be possible in order to participate at the WorldTour level.