Chris Horner

For other people named Christopher Horner, see Christopher Horner (disambiguation).

Christopher Lee Horner

Horner at the 2011 Tour of California.
Personal information
Full name	Christopher Horner
Born	(1971-10-23) October 23, 1971 Bend, Oregon
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	63.5 kg (140 lb; 10.00 st)
Team information
Current team	RadioShack-Leopard
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All-rounder
Professional team(s)
1997–1999 2000–2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006–2007 2008–2009 2010–2011 2012–	Française des Jeux Mercury Prime Alliance Saturn Webcor Builders Saunier Duval-Prodir Davitamon-Lotto Astana Team RadioShack RadioShack-Nissan
Major wins
Tour de Langkawi (2000) Tour de Georgia (2003) Champion, USA Cycling National Racing Calendar (2002, 2003, 2004) Tour of the Basque Country (2010) Tour of California (2011)
Infobox last updated on March 13, 2013

Christopher Horner (born October 23, 1971) is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team RadioShack-Leopard. A native and current resident of Bend, Oregon, Horner dominated the American road racing scene by winning the points standings in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar.

Career

PAA-NutraFig (1995–1996)

Horner turned pro in 1995 with the PAA-NutraFig team. He captured his first major victory in a stage win of the Tour DuPont in 1996.

Française des Jeux (1997–1999)

He was then asked to ride in Europe with French team Française des Jeux. From 1997 to 1999 he had three frustrating seasons with this team.

Mercury, Prime Alliance, Saturn, and Webcor (2000–2004)

In 2000 Horner returned to America to resume a record-setting domestic career, riding with Mercury in 2000, Prime Alliance in 2002, Saturn in 2003 and Webcor Builders in 2004. Horner has won almost every important race in the US racing calendar, with the notable exception of the USPRO National Championships.

Saunier-Duval (2004–2005)

Horner decided to move to Saunier Duval-Prodir after his top-ten finish in the 2004 UCI World Road Cycling Championship because he wanted to give the Tour de France a try. After being injured in the beginning of 2005, Horner showed strong performance in the USPRO Championships and won his first major European victory by taking the sixth stage of the 2005 Tour de Suisse. He then earned his place on the 2005 Tour de France team and nearly won the Miramas to Montpellier stage when he and Sylvain Chavanel refused to cooperate in the final kilometers and were caught by the peloton.

Davitamon and Predictor (2006–2007)

He made a move to the Belgian UCI ProTour squad Davitamon-Lotto for the 2006 season.

For 2007 Horner signed with Ed Krall Racing for the cyclo-cross season.

Astana (2008–2009)

In 2008 Horner moved to the Astana. Horner earned the nickname "The smiler" for his unflappable expression of happiness, even during the most excruciating physical challenges, and "The Yahoo Kid" for his wild exclamations after winning a race. Teammates Levi Leipheimer and Lance Armstrong call him "The Redneck".

In the 2008 Cascade Cycling Classic Horner carried racer Bill Demong with his broken bicycle (who was from another team) to the finish line.

RadioShack (2010–2011)

Horner won the fourth stage of the 2011 Tour of California, before taking overall victory.

On October 4, 2009 it was confirmed that Horner would compete for Team RadioShack in the next two seasons. In one of his strongest European campaigns, Horner garnered first overall at the Tour of the Basque Country (Tour of the Basque Country), including a stage win in the critical 6th stage ITT, defeating overall threat Alejandro Valverde. Horner also achieved several top 10 placings in the Spring classics of the Fleche Wallone, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Amstel Gold. He and his RadioShack teammates did well at the 2010 Tour of California, with Horner putting on a particularly strong performance in the last stage of the race as a member of a final breakaway at Thousand Oaks. Horner finished fourth overall, 1 min 4 sec behind winner Michael Rogers, and just 39 seconds behind teammate Levi Leipheimer in overall time. His good form also resulted in a 9th place overall at the Tour de France, as the first-placed US rider, in spite of dedicating himself in the first stages to supporting his captain Lance Armstrong.

In 2011 Horner continued his success at Pais Vasco with a second-place finish, as well as 4th in Catalunya.

Horner then accomplished the highest-profile result of his career by winning the May 2011 Tour de California stage race. He scored a major solo victory on the 4th stage, after making significant time gains on the day's final mountain finish in San Jose. He maintained his hold on the yellow jersey until the tour's queen stage, where he completed a two-man breakaway finish with teammate Levi Leipheimer to finalize the overall lead, and at age 39 became the oldest rider in history to win that tour.

His participation at the 2011 Tour de France was short lived after a crash left him out of the competition.

RadioShack-Nissan (2012–)

In 2012, Horner signed with RadioShack-NissanTrek. He started The Tirreno-Adriatico as his first race since July where he finished second. He then finished 8th in the Tour of California, failing to defend his title. He then rode the Tour de France where he ended up finishing 13th overall after putting a good performance in the mountains.

Major results

1996

1st Lancaster Classic

1st Stage Tour DuPont

1997

3rd GP Ouest-France

1999

4th Overall Tour Trans-Canada

5th Prix de la Ville de Soissons

9th Overall Circuit des Mines

2000

1st Overall Tour de Langkawi

1st Overall Redlands Bicycle Classic

2001

1st Overall Solano Bicycle Classic

1st Stage 5 Redlands Bicycle Classic

1st Stage 3 Cascade Classic

2002

Champion USA Cycling National Racing Calendar

1st Overall Fitchburg Longsjo Classic

1st Overall Redlands Bicycle Classic

1st Stages 1 & 2

1st Overall Sea Otter Classic

1st Stage 3

1st Overall Solano Bicycle Classic

1st Stage 1

1st Stage 3 Nature Valley Grand Prix

1st Stage 3 Cascade Classic

2nd National Time Trial Championships

2003

Champion, USA Cycling National Racing Calendar

1st Overall Tour de Georgia

1st Mountains classification

1st Overall Redlands Bicycle Classic

1st Overall Solano Bicycle Classic

1st Stages 1 & 4

1st San Francisco Grand Prix (T-Mobile International)

1st McLane Pacific Cycling Classic Road Race

Fitchburg Longsjo Classic

1st Stages 2 & 3

2004

1st USA Cycling National Racing Calendar

1st Overall Sea Otter Classic

1st Stage 2

1st Overall Redlands Bicycle Classic

1st Prologue, Stages 1 & 2

1st Overall Pomona Valley Stage Race

1st Stages 2 & 3

1st Overall Temecula Stage Race

1st Pine Flat Road Race

3rd Overall Tour de Georgia

9th Road Race World Championchips

2005

5th Overall Tour de Suisse

1st Stage 6

2006

1st Stage 2 Tour de Romandie

10th Overall Paris–Nice

2007

5th Overall Tour de Romandie

15th Overall Tour de France

2008

1st Stage 3 Tour de White Rock

7th Giro di Lombardia

2009

2nd Overall Tour de l'Ain

1st Points Jersey

2010

1st Overall Vuelta al País Vasco

1st Stage 6 ITT

2nd Overall Giro di Sardegna

4th Overall Tour of California

7th La Flèche Wallonne

8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège

9th Overall Tour de France

10th Amstel Gold Race

2011

1st Overall Tour of California

1st Stage 4

2nd Overall Vuelta al País Vasco

4th Overall Volta a Catalunya

2012

2nd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico

7th Overall Tour of Utah

8th Overall Tour of California

9th Overall Vuelta al País Vasco

13th Overall Tour de France

2013

6th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico

Grand Tour General Classification results timeline

Grand Tour	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Giro	–	–	–	–	WD	–	–	–
Tour	33	64	15	–	–	9	WD	13
Vuelta	-	20	36	–	WD	–	–

WD = withdrew

External links

• 2009 Rider Profile
• USA Cycling biography
• Chris Horner on Twitter
• Interview with Chris Horner on Bikerumor.com