Chris Horner

Chris Horner
Personal information
Full name	Christopher Horner
Nickname	The Smiler
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	65 kg (143 lb; 10.2 st)
Team information
Current team	Astana
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All-rounder
Major wins
	Tour de Langkawi (2000); Tour de Georgia (2003); Champion, USA Cycling National Racing Calendar; (2002, 2003, 2004)

Christopher Horner (born October 23, 1971) is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Astana. Originally from Bend, Oregon^[1], Horner has been a dominating figure in the American road racing scene ^[2] by winning the points standings in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar. Turning pro in 1995^[3], he captured his first major victory in a stage win of the Tour DuPont in 1996 riding for the NutraFig team, he was asked to ride in Europe with French team Française des Jeux. After three frustrating seasons from 1997 to 1999, he 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 Championships and the Tour of California. He 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 in the 2005 Tour de France team and nearly won the Miramas to Montpellier stage when he and Sylvain Chavanel refused to cooperate in the finale and were caught by the peloton. He made a move to the Belgian UCI ProTour squad Davitamon-Lotto for the 2006 season. Horner moved to Astana Team for the 2008 season. Chris earned the nickname, "The smiler" for his unflappable expression of happiness, even during the most excruciating physical challenges. Teammates Levi Leipheimer and Lance Armstrong call him "The Redneck."

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

In the 2008 Cascades Cycling Classic Horner carried racer Billy Demong with his broken bicycle (who was from another team) to the finish line.^[4]^[5]