Adam James Hansen (born 11 May 1981) is an Australian Ironman triathlete and former professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

, who rode professionally in the latter between 2007 and 2020, and also from 2022 to 2023. During his cycling career, he took five victories – including Grand Tour stage wins at the

2013 Giro d'Italia The 2013 Giro d'Italia was the 96th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It started in Naples and finished in Brescia. Vincenzo Nibali of team Astana (cycling team), Astana won the General classific ...

and the

2014 Vuelta a España The 2014 Vuelta a España took place between 23 August and 14 September 2014 and was the 69th edition of the race. It featured eight mountain stages, five hill stages, five flat stages, and three time trials (one team and two individual), two of ...

, which came during a record run of twenty consecutive Grand Tour starts, and finishes, from 2011 to 2018. In March 2023, he was elected president of the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA), an international non-profit association that safeguards the interests of the professional riders, becoming the first CPA president born outside Europe.

Career

Hansen was born in

Southport, Queensland Southport is a coastal town and the most populous suburb in the City of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. It contains the Gold Coast central business district. In the , Southport had a population of 36,786 people. Geography Southport is ...

, and turned professional in 2007, working with Dr. Lothar Heinrich of the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

. In 2012, Hansen became the second Australian to complete all three Grand Tours – the

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

, the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

and the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

– in a calendar year. He was the only rider to accomplish that feat in 2012, and the 32nd in cycling history. It was after Stage 12 of the Giro that he discovered he had broken his

sternum The sternum (: sternums or sterna) or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major bl ...

approximately two weeks previous, however since it was healing he continued racing. While he had free rein at the Giro, for the Tour he had to work for

André Greipel André Greipel (born 16 July 1982) is a German cyclist, who rode professionally in road bicycle racing between 2005 and 2021. Since his retirement from road racing, Greipel has worked as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental teams and , and in ...

(to win sprints) and

Jurgen Van den Broeck Jurgen Van den Broeck (born 1 February 1983) is a Belgian former road bicycle racer, who competed professionally between 2004 and 2017 for the , , and squads. Van den Broeck specialised in the time trial discipline, having been Junior World Ch ...

(to achieve a good General Classification position). In 2013, Hansen broke away early in the seventh stage of the

, a stage featuring numerous short and steep climbs. Hansen shed his breakaway companions and won in solo fashion in

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

in pouring rain, more than a minute in advance of the chasing group. In stage 19 of the

, Hansen attacked the peloton with to go and resisted the disorganised chase to win solo. In completing the

2015 Vuelta a España The 2015 Vuelta a España was a three-week Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tour cycling stage race, cycling race. The race was the 70th edition of the Vuelta a España and took place principally in Spain, although two race stage, stages took place ...

, his thirteenth grand tour in a row, he broke

Bernardo Ruiz Bernardo Ruiz Navarrete (born 8 January 1925) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer who won the General classification, overall and King of the Mountains, climbers competition at the 1948 Vuelta a España. He went on to become the ...

's 57-year-old record for consecutive grand tours completed. By completing the 2018 Giro d'Italia, he extended his own record becoming the only rider to complete 20 consecutive Grand Tours. The streak ended at 20, as Hansen did not take part in the

2018 Tour de France The 2018 Tour de France was the 105th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. The -long race consisted of 21 race stage, stages, starting on 7 July in Noirmoutier-en-l'Île, in western France, and ...

. As a software engineer, Hansen has designed his own shoes and ridden with them on numerous occasions. He has also written software for his team, which manages their logistics. After Lotto–Soudal opted not to extend Hansen's contract beyond the end of 2020, in October of that year he announced that he would focus on

Ironman Triathlon An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a swim, a bicycle ride and a marathon run completed in that order, a total of . It is widely consid ...

s in 2021, having previously competed in Ironman Florida in 2019. He ended his World Tour cycling career having finished 26 Grand Tours of the 29 he started. In 2022, Hansen signed for Austrian Continental team .

Personal life

He has been living in

Frýdlant nad Ostravicí Frýdlant (, also known as Frýdlant v Čechách; ) is a town in Liberec District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,400 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Cz ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

since 2004, and is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

Major results

Source: ;2004 : 1st Overall Crocodile Trophy : 1st Burgenland Rundfahrt : 1st Grosser Preis um den Deutschlandsberg ;2005 : 1st Overall Crocodile Trophy : 1st Wien-Lassnitzhöhe ;2006 : 1st Grand Prix Bradlo : 1st Lavanttaler Radsporttage : 2nd Road race, National Road Championships : 2nd Salzkammergut Giro : 2nd Giro del Mendrisiotto : 10th Overall

Giro della Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia The Giro del Friuli-Venezia Giulia is a professional cycling race held annually in Italy. It is part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycli ...

;2007 : 6th

Le Samyn Le Samyn is an annual single-day road bicycle race in Belgium, held usually in late February or early March. The event was created in 1968 as ''Grand Prix de Fayt-le-Franc'', named after the former municipality where it started and finished. In ...

;2008 : National Road Championships ::1st MaillotAustralia

Time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

::2nd Road race : 2nd Hel van het Mergelland ;2009 : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships ;2010 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Ster Elektrotoer The ZLM Tour is a cycling race held over five stages, held in the southern Netherlands and Belgium as a 2.Pro race on the UCI ProSeries The UCI ProSeries is the second tier men's elite road bicycle racer, road cycling tour. It was inaugurate ...

::1st Stage 4 ;2012 : 4th Road race, National Road Championships ;2013 : 1st Stage 7

;2014 : 1st Stage 19

: 9th Overall

Tour Down Under The Tour Down Under (currently branded as the Santos Tour Down Under for sponsorship reasons) is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia. It is traditionally the opening event of the UCI World Tour and UCI Women’s WorldTour ...

::1st

Mountains classification : 9th Overall

Tour of Turkey The Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey () is a professional road bicycle racing stage race held annually in Turkey since 1963. In 2005 the race became part of the UCI Europe Tour, UCI race classifications, rated as a 2.2 event, before bei ...

;2015 : 9th Overall

;2016 : 5th Overall Presidential Tour of Turkey

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Adam 1981 births Living people Australian male cyclists Cyclists from the Gold Coast, Queensland Australian Giro d'Italia stage winners Australian Vuelta a España stage winners 2014 Vuelta a España stage winners Sportsmen from Queensland Australian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium 21st-century Australian sportsmen