Retired pro and former world champion Thor Hushovd is looking to create a Norwegian WorldTour team that would line up at the Tour de France in 2017, according to TV2 Norway.

"Norway is now in a 'bike boom' and the World Championships will be in Bergen in 2017, so I think the timing is good now," Hushovd said.

"It is a monster task," he admitted of gathering the big budget required to run a top team. "I have my plans ready, and have devised a plan for going forward, but it is the job of finding money that is very tough. Once that is done, it's only a matter of finding support staff and riders and set up the organization."

While there would be foreign influences on the team, Hushovd wants the team to be a largely Norwegian affair, filling it with Norwegian riders, equipment, staff and directors.

He hopes to create a clean team and show the public that the sport has righted itself, and hopes to instill the team with a Norwegian identity: "We will build it together, but of course with the help of other nations," he said.