The God of Thunder, also known as The Bull from Grimstad (a city in the Aust-Agder county) made Norway proud today.  33 year old Norwegian cyclist Thor Hushovd took first place in Stage 16 of the Tour de France.  Hushovd has been riding professionally since 1998 and has won many awards along the way.  In 1998, the first year of his professional career, Hushovd placed first in the Under 23 year old World Time Trial competition.  Between 2000 and today he has won many different stages in the Tour de France, but this was the first time he placed first in the 16th stage. In 2010 he became the first Norwegian to ever have won the road world championship.  He also became the first reigning champion of the world championship to finish in first for one of the Tour de France stages, as well as the first to wear the yellow jersey for over one week in a row (the yellow jersey is worn by the fastest overall rider for a week).

Cycling is a sport that in a historical sense has only recently become popular in Norway.  Hushovd rides for the Garmin-Cervelo team, which is coached by Atle Kvålsvoll, who is said to be one of the major reasons the sport of cycling has picked up so much.  In 1988, Kvålsvoll rode for the French Z team and won the Tour de France that year.

Sports channel viewings, as well as bike sales have been very high in Norway due to the success of ´Sthor Hushovd´and ´Uthrolig Hushov,´the first putting the word stor (large, great) and Thor together, the second using the word ´utrolig´which means unbelievable.  The media has really enjoyed using his name creatively.

Go Thor!  I´m rooting for you!!