Lotto Soudal rider to make 2016 season debut at Australian national championships
Image 1 of 7
Adam Hansen showing off his attacking flair at the 2015 Vuelta(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Adam Hansen (Lotto Soudal)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Adam Hansen has been a key rider for Andre Greipel at Lotto(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Adam Hansen's top tube puts it into figures just how many hours on the bike he's spent racing three week tours(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Adam Hansen is a man in demand from the media(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Adam Hansen is a fan favourite on Alpe d'Huez(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Adam Hansen's rear disc wheel features the names and dates of the record 13 grand tour's he started and finished since 2011(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
He set the record for the number of consecutive Grand Tour finishes when he completed the Vuelta a Espana in September but Adam Hansen says there's more to him than just that, with the 34-year-old readying himself for another season of racing.
Hansen's record of thirteen Grand Tour finishes stretches back to the 2011 Vuelta but in the space of his Grand Tour odyssey he has won a stage at the Giro and the Vuelta, and helped his team to a number of successes. Although the Grand Tour record is a facet of Hansen's career that pops up on regular basis in interviews, the Australian rightly points out that there's far more to him.
"People always ask the question about the Grand Tours. I don't want to be remembered just for that. I've won some good races and every race I go to I'm always trying to be aggressive and active," Hansen told Cyclingnews from the Lotto Soudal team camp in Mallorca Spain.
For Hansen, his drive to race stems from a passion and love for the sport.
"I'm always ready to race and I can't honestly remember the last time I've had bad form and just tried to get through it. I love to race, I love to attack and these are the things I want to do."
In 2016 Hansen will attempt to extend his record with another Giro d'Italia in May. However before he gets to Italy there are number of important races in which he will want to show himself. Having signed a new three-year deal with Lotto Soudal, Hansen will return to Australia later this month as he embarks on his season debut at the Australian nationals, Tour Down Under, and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
He will then return to Europe and begin to wind up for a number of races, culminating with the Tour of Turkey and the Giro d'Italia. The second half of the season has not yet been defined but with a three year deal, the possibility of racing 22 Grand Tours in open.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
"When I first started on the Grand Tours I never sat down and planned it. But the team were so happy with the first year when is started them that they just gave me the same programme again. Knock on wood it just keeps going," Hansen told Cyclingnews.
"I enjoy it and for me it goes well with my lifestyle. I don't like to be away from home too much and if you actually look at my schedule this works for me. I see family when I do the Tour Down Under and then I have February off and slowly build up again."
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
