Uno-X Mobility knows a prime athlete when it sees one: How team management is courting ski GOAT Johannes Klaebo for a slot on the cycling squad.
(Photo: Getty Images)
Updated February 23, 2026 09:43AM
You know how Primoz Roglič used to be an elite ski jumper?
Well, cycling fans might one day be reminding each other that Johannes Høsflot Klaebo was once a record-breaking cross-country skier.
At least, that’s if Uno-X Mobility gets its way.
Uno-X team boss Thor Hushovd revealed to Velo that he’s been courting the Norwegian GOAT who just became the first athlete to win six gold medals in one Winter Olympic Games.
“I told Klaebo last year that once the Olympics were over, he should consider testing a few sessions with the Uno X team,” Hushovd told Velo.
“I’ve ridden with him, and it’s obvious he’s a natural cycling talent,” Hushovd said Monday. “He sits beautifully on the bike, has great control, and adapts quickly.”
It’s no surprise that Hushovd is trying to reel in ski king Klaebo.
The 29-year-old just swept six wins at the Milano-Cortina Games to break the record for most gold medals in one winter. He crushed the opposition for two weeks without loss, whether in 3-minute sprints or two-hour, 50km sufferfests.
It was a level of dominance that Mr. Pogačar can only aspire to.
Klaebo blew up social media too – this footage of his insane 18kph uphill skiing sprint was the viral sensation of the Games.
With 11 golds and a total of 13 medals through his Olympic career, Klaebo is the most successful winter athlete of all time.
He’s also the winningest Olympian behind only the legendary U.S. dolphin swimmer Michael Phelps.
“I’ve always said that Klaebo has an extraordinary physical capacity, something truly unique,” Hushovd told Velo. “With the engine he has, he could succeed in almost any endurance sport.”
Klaebo: ‘Maybe joining Uno-X should be the next goal’
Klaebo won a historic 6th gold medal at the 50km cross country ski race in the Cortina Games. (Photo: Javier SORIANO / AFP via Getty Images)
Hushovd isn’t diving down some snowy dead-end in pursuit of Norway’s new record breaker. His team is already packed out with strapping Scandis who use cross country skiing as a winter training tool that can push VO2 Max beyond the North Pole.
And the network is already there.
Klaebo has a personal agreement with the Uno-X parent company, and the cycling team has been welcoming him on training jaunts for years. He reportedly tagged along for the team’s recon rides before the 2025 Tour of Flanders and took a VIP seat in the director’s car during the Tour de France.
Klaebo even suggested – or maybe joked – last spring that cycling could be in his future.
“First I need to do the [2026] Olympics, and then we’ll see,” he said. “After the Olympics I’ll start thinking about what I’ll do next, so maybe joining the Uno-X team should be the next goal.”
Many Norwegian athletes switch between skiing and cycling depending on the season, or permanently transition between the two. Visma-Lease a Bike’s 21-year-old phenom Jørgen Nordhagen was a junior XC ski world champion before he switched to a different type of cleats.
Hushovd told Velo he’s not overly optimistic that “King Klaebo” will permanently pack up his skis in the way that Nordhagen did. Klaebo had hinted before he conquered Cortina that he was already thinking forward to the 2030 Games in the French Alps.
But here’s hoping Hushovd doesn’t give up on Klaebo.
He’s pretty much completed skiing, so he might as well try cycling while he can …