29 Facts About Chris Horner

Christopher Brandon Horner was born on October 23,1971 and is an American retired professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 1996 and 2019, and is the most recent American rider to win a Grand Tour.

Chris Horner won the Vuelta a Espana in 2013, becoming the oldest winner of any of cycling's grand tours in the process.

Chris Horner captured his first major victory in a stage win of the Tour DuPont in 1996.

Chris Horner was then asked to ride in Europe with French team Francaise des Jeux.

In 2000, Chris 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.

Chris Horner has won almost every important race in the US racing calendar, with the notable exception of the USPRO National Championships.

Chris Horner 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.

Chris Horner took a stage victory at the Tour de Romandie, and finished the race in seventh overall.

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

Chris 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.

On October 4,2009, it was confirmed that Chris Horner would compete for Team RadioShack in the next two seasons.

In one of his strongest European campaigns, Chris Horner garnered first overall at the Tour of the Basque Country, including a stage win in the critical 6th stage individual time trial, defeating overall threat Alejandro Valverde.

Chris Horner finished fourth overall, 64 seconds behind winner Michael Rogers, and just 39 seconds behind teammate Levi Leipheimer in overall time.

In 2011, Chris Horner continued his success at the Tour of the Basque Country with a second-place finish, as well as 4th at the Volta a Catalunya.

Chris Horner scored a major solo victory on the 4th stage, after making significant time gains on the day's final mountain finish in San Jose.

Chris Horner 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.

Chris Horner then finished 8th in the Tour of California, failing to defend his title.

Chris Horner then rode the Tour de France where he ended up finishing 13th overall after putting a good performance in the mountains.

Less than three weeks later, in stage 3 of the Vuelta a Espana, Chris Horner attacked over the last kilometer to win the stage and take the overall lead in the race.

Chris Horner won again on stage 10, another uphill finish, reclaiming the lead.

Chris Horner reduced Nibali's lead by 22 seconds on stage 16, and 25 seconds on stage 18, to trail by 3 seconds.

However Chris Horner continued opening the gap out to 28 seconds on the road by the finish line.

Chris Horner felt he was worth more than the team were willing to offer for a rider of his resume and ability.

Chris Horner suffered a punctured lung and broken ribs in the accident, jeopardizing his participation at the Giro d'Italia.

Chris Horner elected not to compete in the Giro d'Italia; on June 30,2014, Horner was named in Lampre's Tour de France squad, with Rui Costa as team leader.

Chris Horner placed second in the mountainous Tour of Utah which he raced in preparation for the Vuelta a Espana.

In June 2018, Chris Horner returned to racing for the United States National Road Race Championships, riding for Team Illuminate.

Chris Horner said that overcoming a bronchial infection that had plagued the tailend of his career had convinced him to come out of retirement.

In 2019, Chris Horner joined the team of broadcaster NBC for their coverage of the Tour de France, acting as a commentator, and in August 2020 started his own YouTube show called 'The Butterfly Effect'.