CYCLISTS from Sweden

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Swedish Cyclists of all time. This list of famous Swedish Cyclists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Swedish Cyclists.

1. Gösta Pettersson (b. 1940)

With an HPI of 60.28, Gösta Pettersson is the most famous Swedish Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages on wikipedia.

Gösta Artur Roland Pettersson (born 23 November 1940) is a retired Swedish cyclist. As an amateur, he competed in the individual and team road events at the 1960, 1964 and 1968 Olympics and won one silver and two bronze medals, in 1964 and 1968. In 1968 he also took part in two track events: individual and team 4000 m pursuit. Pettersson's brothers, Erik, Sture and Tomas, were also Olympic cyclists, and their quartet was known as the Fåglum brothers. They won the World Amateur Cycling Championships in 1967–1969 and a team silver medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics; three of the brothers were also part of the bronze-winning road team at the 1964 Games. In 1967 they were awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal. After the 1969 World Championships the Fåglum brothers turned professional. In 1970 Gösta won the Tour de Romandie, Coppa Sabatini and Trofeo Baracchi (with brother Tomas), and finished third at the Tour de France and sixth at the Giro d'Italia. Next year he won the Giro d'Italia, Giro dell'Appennino and Giro delle Marche. During the 1971 Giro he only managed to finish on the stage podium twice and did not win any stages, but was able to win the Maglia Rosa by finishing higher than the GC riders in the time trials and staying with or ahead of them in the mountains. He finished sixth at the 1972 Giro d'Italia and seventh at the 1973 Tour de Suisse. During the Giro he defeated Merckx in a sprint finish on stage 7 to claim a stage win and come within only +0:10 of Merckx for the overall lead, the only competitor even close to Merckx in the standings. He stayed with the two time Giro champ for the next several stages but ended up losing time in the split time trial of stage 11 and fell back in the standings. His last major success was second place at the 1974 Tour de Suisse. Of the Grand Tours he preferred to ride the Giro, competing from 1970 to 1974 finishing in the top ten four times, never finishing worse than 13th. He rode the Tour De France in 1970 finishing on the podium behind Eddy Merckx and Joop Zoetemelk. After finishing atop the podium in the Giro, ahead of Herman Van Springel and Italian rider Ugo Colombo, he started the 1971 TDF, but abandoned the race prior to reaching the Jaques Anquetil Velodrome. Pettersson never raced in the Vuelta.

2. Bernhard Britz (1906 - 1935)

With an HPI of 58.40, Bernhard Britz is the 2nd most famous Swedish Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Bernhard Rudolf Britz (27 March 1906 – 31 May 1935) was a Swedish road racing cyclist who won bronze medals in the individual and team road races at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Between 1927 and 1933 he won nine national titles, three individual and six in teams. He was also an innovator and developed a bicycle gear, though without much commercial success. He died after a collision with a truck in a cycling race in 1935.

3. Erik Pettersson (b. 1944)

With an HPI of 54.77, Erik Pettersson is the 3rd most famous Swedish Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Erik Håkan Pettersson (born 4 April 1944) is a retired Swedish cyclist. He was part of the road racing team of four Pettersson brothers, known as Fåglum brothers, who won the world title in 1967–1969 and a silver medal at the 1968 Olympics; three of the brothers were also part of the bronze-winning road team at the 1964 Games. In 1967 they were awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal. Erik was the fastest sprinter among the Fåglum brothers; he was nicknamed Rödtoppen for his red hair. He turned professional after the 1969 World Championships, together with the other brothers, but had little success and retired in 1971.

4. Bernt Johansson (b. 1953)

With an HPI of 53.03, Bernt Johansson is the 4th most famous Swedish Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Bernt Harry Johansson (born 18 April 1953) is a Swedish former road bicycle racer, who was a professional rider from 1977 to 1981. His sporting career began with Mariestadcyklisten. A competitor at the 1972 Summer Olympics, he represented his native country once again at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he won the men's individual road race. For that performance Johansson was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal the same year, together with track and field athlete Anders Gärderud, who claimed gold in the men's 3000 m steeplechase in Montreal.

5. Tomas Pettersson (b. 1947)

With an HPI of 52.54, Tomas Pettersson is the 5th most famous Swedish Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Tomas Pettersson (born 15 May 1947) is a retired Swedish cyclist. He was part of the road racing team of four Pettersson brothers, known as Fåglum brothers, who won the world title in 1967–1969 and a silver medal at the 1968 Olympics. In 1967 they were awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal. Petterson turned professional after the 1969 World Championships, together with the other brothers. He rode the Tour de France in 1970 and 1971, and won the 1970 Trofeo Baracchi (together with brother Gösta). He retired prematurely in 1973, and later regretted that decision.

6. Magnus Bäckstedt (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 48.05, Magnus Bäckstedt is the 6th most famous Swedish Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Magnus Bäckstedt (born 30 January 1975) is a Swedish former professional road bicycle racer. His most notable achievement in cycling is winning Paris–Roubaix in 2004.

7. Gustav Larsson (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 47.04, Gustav Larsson is the 7th most famous Swedish Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Gustav Erik Larsson (born 20 September 1980) is a Swedish former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2016 for nine different teams. Larsson specialised as a time trialist, winning the Swedish National Time Trial Championships seven times between 2006 and 2015, and won silver medals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the 2009 World Championships in Mendrisio.

8. Emma Johansson (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 45.93, Emma Johansson is the 8th most famous Swedish Cyclist.  Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Emma Karolina Johansson (born 23 September 1983) is a Swedish retired professional racing cyclist. Nicknamed Silver Emma, Johansson accumulated many second and third places at major championships and one-day classics. In 2013 she finished the year as number one on the UCI Women's World Ranking. She won the silver medal in the women's road race at both the 2008 and 2016 Summer Olympics, as well as one silver and two bronze medals at the Road World championships. She also holds a record four podium finishes at the Tour of Flanders for Women, with one second and three third places. Despite her amassing of podium places, she won several one-day races, including Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Ronde van Drenthe, Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio, Omloop van het Hageland, Le Samyn and the Holland Hills Classic. Johansson was also successful in stage races. She won the Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen three times, the Emakumeen Euskal Bira twice and the Belgium Tour once. In addition, she won one stage in the 2012 Giro d'Italia Femminile and finished in the top ten in all three of her Giro d'Italia Femminile participations.

9. Jan Karlsson (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 45.23, Jan Karlsson is the 9th most famous Swedish Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Jan Bengt Peter Karlsson (born 8 February 1966) is a Swedish former cyclist. He won the bronze medal in the team time trial road race along with Anders Jarl, Michel Lafis and Björn Johansson in the 1988 Summer Olympics. He also rode at the 1992 Summer Olympics and the 1996 Summer Olympics.

10. Michel Lafis (b. 1967)

With an HPI of 45.15, Michel Lafis is the 10th most famous Swedish Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Michel Peter Lafis (born 19 September 1967) is a Swedish former cyclist. He won the bronze medal in the Men's 100 kilometres team time trial along with Jan Karlsson, Anders Jarl and Björn Johansson at the 1988 Summer Olympics. He also rode at the 1992, 1996 and the 2000 Summer Olympics.