Thomas Löfkvist (born 4 April 1984) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

former professional road bicycle racer who last rode for the

UCI Professional Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

team . Since 2015 Thomas Löfkvist is general manager of

professional cycling team Team Tre Berg–PostNord. He became the youngest Swedish professional road bicycle racer when he started his professional bicycling career in at the age of 19 in 2004. Löfkvist was a good time trialist with solid climbing abilities, winning the

Monte Paschi Eroica The Strade Bianche is a road bicycle race in Tuscany, Central Italy, starting and finishing in Siena. First held in 2007, it is raced annually on the first or second Saturday of March. The name ''Strade Bianche'' (Italian for ''White Roads'') st ...

in 2009 with a powerful attack during the steep final kilometer ascent. He has previously used, both within and outside of the cycling world, the surname spelling 'Lövkvist'. Beginning with the cycling season of 2010 he is using his legal surname ''Löfkvist'' throughout.

Career

Early years

As a junior, Löfkvist was the European mountain bike champion. Aged 19 he won the Individual Time Trial and the Overall Classification of the prestigious Circuit des Ardennes. Löfkvist also finished sixth and wore the leader's jersey in the 2003

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir ( en, Tour of the Future) is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independen ...

. Following these results he turned professional for the French team in 2004.

Française des Jeux

Löfkvist's first professional season turned out to be a very successful one. The week after turning 20 he won the last stage of

Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 Ho ...

with a 171 km breakaway, covering 150 alone after getting rid of

Christophe Moreau Christophe Moreau (born 12 April 1971 in Vervins) is a French former professional road racing cyclist. For many years Moreau was the primary French contender for the general classification in the Tour de France: he finished in the top 12 in the G ...

. The stage win also gave him the Overall Classification, drawing comparisons with

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

winners

Bernard Hinault Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault ...

and

Greg LeMond Gregory James LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former professional road racing cyclist, entrepreneur, and anti-doping advocate. A two-time winner of the Road Race World Championship (1983 and 1989) and a three-time winner of the Tou ...

, who also won the race at the age of 20. Löfkvist finished 10 seconds ahead of Franck Bouyer, who four days later earned his revenge by beating Löfkvist in the French semi-classic

Paris–Camembert Paris–Camembert (also Paris–Camembert Trophée Lepetit or Paris–Camembert Lepetit) is a semi classic held annually in April. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The route of the race has varied over t ...

. Later in the season he also won the Swedish National time trial championships and participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics. In the 2004

he won the last stage and finished second overall on the same time of the winner, Sylvain Calzati. Löfkvist began the 2005 season with a 12th place in the Paris–Nice. He made his debut in the

as the youngest rider at the age of 21. He also finished 4th in the

Tour de Pologne The Tour de Pologne ( Polish: ''Wyścig Dookoła Polski'', English: ''Tour of Poland'', official abbreviation TdP,) is an annual, professional men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in Poland. It consists of seven or eight stages ...

and 14th in the

Deutschland Tour The Deutschland Tour (English: ''Tour of Germany'' and sometimes ''Deutschland-Rundfahrt'' in German) is the most important multi-stage road bicycle race in Germany. Initially the race was held in May/June, but from 2005 until 2008 it was moved t ...

. He was later named the Swedish Cyclist of the Year. In 2006 he became the Swedish National Road Race champion and was once again the youngest rider of the

. In 2007 he finished second in the

Critérium International The Critérium International was a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring from 1932 until 2016, typically the last weekend of March. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932. For many years ...

after winning the concluding Time Trial. He also competed in the

and later finished second in the 14th stage of the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the ...

, the best stage result for a Swede in

since 1982. At the age of 23 he had finished his second

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...

of the season and the fourth of his career. Löfkvist was the

UCI ProTour The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, ...

rider with most competition days (84) in 2007 and he only abandoned in the last stage of Paris–Nice. He covered the third most competition kilometers in the ProTour.

Team Columbia

Löfkvist joined the for the 2008 season, later known as

Team Columbia A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to infor ...

. Löfkvist won the best young rider classification and finished third in the

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of the season, it is considered to be an important prep ...

. His improvement in stage races became clear after he finished fifth in the

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse ( en, Tour of Switzerland) is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France ...

, ahead of his team leader

Kim Kirchen Kim Kirchen (born 3 July 1978 in Luxembourg City) is a Luxembourgian former road racing cyclist. He is the son of cyclist Erny Kirchen and the great-nephew of cyclist Jeng Kirchen. Career Kirchen signed as a professional cyclist in 2000 with ...

. Löfkvist also took the white jersey from

Romain Feillu Romain Feillu (born 16 April 1984) is a French former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2006 and 2019. He is the older brother of Brice Feillu, who also competed professionally as a cyclist. Career Feillu was born in Chât ...

in the first time trial of the

2008 Tour de France The 2008 Tour de France was the 95th running of the race. The event took place from 5 to 27 July. Starting in the French city of Brest, the tour entered Italy on the 15th stage and returned to France during the 16th, heading for Paris, its reg ...

. Löfkvist then finished impressively 12th at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. In 2009 he finished 5th at the

Tour of California The Tour of California (officially sponsored as the Amgen Tour of California) was an annual professional road cycling stage race on the UCI World Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour that ran from 2006 to 2019. It was the only event on the ...

behind

Levi Leipheimer Levi Leipheimer (born October 24, 1973) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. He was twice US national champion, winning the time trial title in 1999 and the road race in 2007, and is an Olympic medalist. Leipheimer was born a ...

and then won the

, his first win in two years. He also finished fourth in the

and later wore the pink jersey as leader of the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulat ...

at the 2009 Giro d'Italia.

Team Sky

On 10 September 2009, Löfkvist was presented as a rider for the newly established British , where he has chosen to spell his name 'Löfkvist'. Team Sky officials have said that the name appears as 'Löfkvist' on the rider's passport, and he previously has used that spelling in the Olympic games. In July 2010, Löfkvist finished 17th in the

(20 minutes, 46 seconds behind winner

Alberto Contador Alberto Contador Velasco (; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice ( 2007, 2009), the Giro d'Italia twice (2008, 2015), and the V ...

), the highest placed Team Sky rider. Löfkvist led Team Sky at the 2010

, but the team withdrew from after Stage 7 following the death of soigneur Txema González. In the absence of

Bradley Wiggins Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but later made the transition to r ...

, Löfkvist led Team Sky at the

2011 Giro d'Italia The 2011 Giro d'Italia was the 94th Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The race started on 7 May with a team time trial in Turin to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian unification, when the city served as the first capital of th ...

, where he finished 21st overall. Löfkvist left at the end of the 2012 season, and joined the new team for the 2013 season. In August 2014, Löfkvist announced his retirement at the end of the 2014 season, as he was diagnosed with chronic fatigue. In November 2014 Löfkvist was announced as general manager of the new Swedish squad Team Tre Berg-Bianchi ahead of the 2015 cycling season.

Career achievements

Major results

;2003 : 1st Overall Circuit des Ardennes ;2004 : 1st MaillotSuecia

National Time Trial Championships : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall,

::1st Stage 4 : 2nd

: 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 10 ;2005 : 4th Overall Tour of Poland : 5th Overall

Tour Méditerranéen Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

;2006 : 1st MaillotSuecia

National Road Race Championships ;2007 : 1st Stage 3 (ITT)

;2008 : 2nd Overall

::1st

Points classification ::1st Jersey white

Young rider classification : 3rd Overall

: 3rd Cantons d'Argovie : 5th

Coppa Bernocchi The Coppa Bernocchi is a European bicycle race held in Legnano, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 1919 the business magnate Antonio Bernocchi founded the Coppa Bernocchi (or Bernocchi Cup ...

: 5th Overall

: 8th

: 9th Overall Tour of Catalonia ::Held Jersey white

Young Rider Classification from Stages 4–8 ;2009 : 1st

: 1st Stage 5

Sachsen Tour The Sachsen Tour is a multi-stage road bicycle race held in the region of Saxony, Germany. It was first held in 1985 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicy ...

: 4th Overall

::1st

Young rider classification : 5th Overall

: 6th

Flèche Wallonne Flèche or Fleche may refer to: *Flèche (architecture), a type of church spire * Flèche (cycling), a team cycling competition *Flèche (fencing), an aggressive offensive fencing technique *Flèche (fortification) A flèche ( Fr. for "arrow") is ...

: Giro d'Italia ::1st Stage 1 TTT :: Jersey pink

Leading

for stages 5 :: Jersey white

Leading

young rider classification Young rider classification (french: classement général des jeunes) is a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, which awards the current leader by overall time for rid ...

for stages 5–15 ;2010 : 2nd

Strade Bianche The Strade Bianche is a road bicycle race in Tuscany, Central Italy, starting and finishing in Siena. First held in 2007, it is raced annually on the first or second Saturday of March. The name ''Strade Bianche'' (Italian for ''White Roads'') st ...

: 6th Overall

Tour du Limousin Tour du Limousin is a 4-day road bicycle race held annually in Limousin, France. It was first held in 1968 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle raci ...

;2011 : 6th Overall

Vuelta a Andalucía The Vuelta a Andalucía (Tour of Andalusia) or Ruta del Sol (Route of the Sun) is a regional Spanish road bicycle race first held in 1925. Since 2005, it has been a 2.1 category race on the UCI Europe Tour. The race became a part of the new UCI ...

: 10th Overall

;2012 : 8th Overall

;2013 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

: 3rd National Time Trial Championships

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

*
Palmares on Cycling Base (French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lofkvist, Thomas 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Gotland County Swedish male cyclists Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of Sweden