Hansen caught in crossfire as tempers flare at Tour Down Under

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Try as he might, Adam Hansen can’t seem to please everyone. The Lotto Soudal rider is an integral part of the CPA, the pro riders’ union, and has spent considerable time at the Tour Down Under liaising between the riders and the race organisers to ensure that athlete welfare has been considered in the 40-degree heat that has hit the race.

However, at the end of stage 4 a rider approached Hansen and berated him for allowing the peloton to race in the high temperatures. After the altercation Hansen could be seen discussing the conditions at the Astana team bus, although he ruled out naming the rider in question when speaking to Cyclingnews.

Hansen works without salary as part of the CPA and covers his own expenses. He was shocked, to say the least, when a rider called him out at the end of stage, suggesting that he didn’t want to cancel the stage because he wanted to attack.

"It puts me in a difficult situation because, yes, the guys that don’t like it are the ones that complain, and the ones that have no problem are neutral about it. So everyone that came to me to complain, then complains to other people and then they think it’s everyone complaining. Then I do a round and ask a few other teams, but they say it’s ok.

"Some of the Spanish guys were saying if you do a race in Spain in the summer, it’s the same. Sometimes at the Tour it can also be as hot as this, but it is 200km or 240km. You know, if you want to stop you can stop, but not everyone wants to stop.”