Thomas Löfkvist

Thomas Löfkvist (born 4 April 1984) is a Swedish former professional road bicycle racer who last rode for the UCI Professional Continental team . Since 2015 Thomas Löfkvist is general manager of Swedish 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 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. Following these results he turned professional for the French team in 2004. 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. Later in the season he also won the Swedish National time trial championships and participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics. In the 2004 Tour de l'Avenir 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 Tour de France as the youngest rider at the age of 21. He also finished 4th in the Tour de Pologne and 14th in the Deutschland Tour. 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 Tour de France.

Team Columbia Löfkvist joined the for the 2008 season, later known as Team Columbia. Löfkvist won the best young rider classification and finished third in the Tirreno–Adriatico. His improvement in stage races became clear after he finished fifth in the Tour de Suisse, ahead of his team leader Kim Kirchen. Löfkvist also took the white jersey from Romain Feillu in the first time trial of the 2008 Tour de France. Löfkvist then finished impressively 12th at the World Championships.

In 2009 he finished 5th at the Tour of California behind Levi Leipheimer and then won the Monte Paschi Eroica, his first win in two years. He also finished fourth in the Tirreno–Adriatico and later wore the pink jersey as leader of the general classification 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 Tour de France (20 minutes, 46 seconds behind winner Alberto Contador), the highest placed Team Sky rider.

Löfkvist led Team Sky at the 2010 Vuelta a España, but the team withdrew from after Stage 7 following the death of soigneur Txema González.

In the absence of Bradley Wiggins, Löfkvist led Team Sky at the 2011 Giro d'Italia, 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.

"My body is saying stop. I’ve enjoyed winning the Strade Bianche, but my most memorable moment is when I got the pink jersey at the Giro d’Italia in 2009. I’ve chosen my teams for their ethics and I’m proud of that." — Thomas Löfkvist

Career achievements Major results

2003

2004

1st Stage 4 2nd Paris–Camembert 2nd Overall Tour de l'Avenir 1st Stage 10 2005 4th Overall Tour de Pologne 5th Overall Tour Méditerranéen 2006

2007 1st Stage 3 (ITT) Critérium International 2008 2nd Overall Deutschland Tour

3rd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico 3rd Grand Prix of Aargau Canton 5th Coppa Bernocchi 5th Overall Tour de Suisse 8th Monte Paschi Eroica 9th Overall Volta a Catalunya 2009 1st Monte Paschi Strade Bianche 1st Stage 5 Sachsen Tour Giro d'Italia 1st Stage 1 (TTT)

4th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico

5th Overall Tour of California 6th La Flèche Wallonne 2010 2nd Montepaschi Strade Bianche 6th Overall Tour du Limousin 2011 6th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía 10th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico 2012 8th Overall Critérium International 2013

3rd Time trial, National Road Championships

Grand Tour general classification results timeline