Hans Jacob Bauer (born 7 April 1985) is a New Zealand former professional

road racing cyclist 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 comm ...

, who competed as a professional from 2010 to 2023.

Early life

Bauer was raised in a remote area of New Zealand called Parapara near the township of

Tākaka Tākaka is a small town situated at the southeastern end of Golden Bay / Mohua, Golden Bay, at the northern end of New Zealand's South Island, located on the lower reaches of the Tākaka River. State Highway 60 (New Zealand), State Highway 60 r ...

Golden Bay Golden Bay may refer to: * Golden Bay / Mohua Golden Bay / Mohua is a large shallow bay in New Zealand's Tasman District, near the northern tip of the South Island. An arm of the Tasman Sea, the bay lies northwest of Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aore ...

. In 2003, Bauer began his tertiary studies at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

, New Zealand, whilst residing at Aquinas College in his first year. He was a nationally ranked mountain biker at the time. Whilst there, he was also often seen around the Dunedin Music scene playing his bass guitar in a band called Dream Farm. In 2006, Bauer earned his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

Physical Education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

from

Otago University The University of Otago () is a public research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in Oceania. The university was created by ...

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

, New Zealand. Bauer then worked as a cycle courier in Wellington for a year.

Career

Bauer moved to Ghent in 2009. He raced in amateur races and as a result obtained a contract with Endura Racing. While riding for , Bauer won the 2010

New Zealand National Road Race Championships The New Zealand National Road Race Championship is a road bicycle race that takes place inside the New Zealand National Cycling Championship, and decides the best cyclist in this type of race. The first edition took place in 1934. The first winn ...

. In a sprint finish on the 186 km Christchurch course, he finished ahead of

Hayden Roulston Hayden Roulston (born 10 January 1981) is a New Zealand former professional racing cyclist. He won the silver medal in the men's 4000 m individual pursuit and a bronze medal in the men's 4000 m team pursuit at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beiji ...

and

Julian Dean Julian Dean (born 28 January 1975) is a former professional road racing cyclist from New Zealand who competed as a professional between 1999 and 2013. He last rode for UCI World Tour team , where he now works as an assistant sporting director a ...

. Bauer said of the victory "I didn't really think I had the legs to last out there today but I managed to go with Roulston and Dean when they attacked on the hill and when we got down to a bunch of four on the last leg I hung in. It was a quality field so I'm stoked." Bauer came tenth in the Olympic road race at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. He said of the race "I was really struggling with 20km to go. I just started cramping up really badly and the weather was a bit warmer than I expected. Hydration is always hard and I started cramping pretty bad. I'm happy." In November 2011, Bauer signed with the renamed squad, for the 2012 season. He remained with for the 2013, 2014, and 2015 seasons. Jack Bauer won the 2013 Japan Cup. After initially coming in second place, he was upgrade to first place after Michael Rogers was disqualified for failing a drug test for clenbuterol. In the 2014 Jayco Herald Sun Tour, Bauer won the Prologue from

Tom Scully Tom Scully (born 15 May 1991) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. He played for the Melbourne Football Club, Greater Western Sydney Giants, and Hawthorn Football Club. A star midfielder at junior level, Scully was originally s ...

. He said of the win "It's a bit of a pity to knock a fellow Kiwi om Scullyoff the top perch, but it might as well be another Kiwi doing it," On the fifteenth stage of the

2014 Tour de France The 2014 Tour de France was the 101st edition of the race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The race included 21 stages, starting in Leeds, Yorkshire, United Kingdom, on 5 July and finishing on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 27 July. The race ...

, Bauer broke away with

Martin Elmiger Martin Elmiger (born 23 September 1978) is a Swiss former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2017 for the Post Swiss Team, , , and squads. During his career, Elmiger was a four-time winner of the Swiss National Roa ...

for 222 km, only to be caught by the charging peloton a few meters from the line. Bauer said of the effort "It's a childhood dream to win a stage at the Tour. And for a person like myself, I’m normally a domestique. It was my first chance to actually be up the road...I really gave it absolutely everything. As you could see from my meltdown at the finish line I was pretty disappointed to come away empty-handed."

Charly Wegelius Charles "Charly" Wegelius (born 26 April 1978 in Espoo, Finland) is a British former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. Never a winner of a professional race individually, Wegelius nevertheless made a career out of being a ...

said of Bauer being caught on the line: "It's terrible. Heart breaking. I don’t know. Yeah. I don’t know. They could have just put the finish line 20 meters earlier and it would have been fine."

Cycling Weekly ''Cycling Weekly'' is the world's oldest cycling publication. It is both a weekly cycling magazine and a news, features and buying advice website. It is published by Future plc, Future. It used to be affectionately referred to by British club c ...

described the finish as "one of the most exciting sprint finishes in living memory". In the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

in Glasgow, Jack Bauer won the silver medal in the road race behind

Geraint Thomas Geraint Howell Thomas, ( , ; born 25 May 1986) is a Welsh professional racing cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam , Wales and Great Britain. He is one of the few riders in the modern era to achieve significant elite success as both a track and ...

in very wet conditions. Bauer said "When I attacked, of course gold was always the goal...But when I was joined by Thomas – he's one of the classiest riders in the world, he's really versatile, he's good in all weather, and he's just come off the Tour was well. So I knew that he would be a hard man to beat and that silver was probably going to be as good as I could get". Jack Bauer broke his femur in stage five of the 2015 Tour de France. After "a tiny little crash" he rode 90 km to the finish using his other leg before abandoning. Bauer said of it "It's actually the first bone I've broken to date, both on my bike in my career and in my life, so I thought I'd start at the top and break all the big ones," In stage five of the

2016 Tour of Britain The 2016 Tour of Britain was a nine-stage men's professional Road bicycle racing, road cycling race. It was the thirteenth running of the modern version of the Tour of Britain and the 76th British tour in total. The race started on 4 September in ...

, Jack Bauer escaped in a five-man breakaway, and survived until the end, winning the stage. He said of it "if you have an opportunity to win, you lay it all on the line, oI didn’t think about what the bunch was doing...If they catch you, they catch you. I’d have regretted more being beaten by one of the other guys in the break." In 2017, Bauer won the New Zealand time trial championships. He said of the 40 km race in Napier, New Zealand "I am so thrilled to win this national title and to be able to take the national jersey back to Europe for my new team. I had no expectations today as it was more of a 40km hit-out for my major goal of the road championship on Sunday." In the

2020 Czech Cycling Tour The 2020 Czech Cycling Tour was the 11th edition of the Czech Cycling Tour, between 6 and 9 August 2020. The race was rated as a 2.1 event as part of the 2020 UCI Europe Tour. Route Teams Twenty teams, consisting of six UCI WorldTeams, four UC ...

, Bauer, riding for came second in the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulati ...

in the four stage race, 19 seconds behind teammate

Damien Howson Damien Howson (born 13 August 1992) is an Australian cyclist, who rides for UCI ProTeam . Career Howson started his athletic career in basketball, becoming a state champion aged 13. He moved to cycling when South Australian Sports Institute di ...

. Bauer currently resides in

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Spain.

Major results

;2009 : 2nd Overall

Tour of Southland The Tour of Southland is a road bicycle racing stage race held in the Southland region of New Zealand. From 2005 until 2009, the Tour of Southland has been part of the UCI Oceania Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle ...

::1st Stage 2 ;2010 : 1st Road race, National Road Championships : 1st Stage 5

Tour of Wellington The New Zealand Cycle Classic (previously known as the Tour of Wellington) was a road cycling race held in and around the Wairarapa near Wellington, New Zealand. The race was a men's competition over five stages and part of the UCI Oceania Tou ...

: 2nd Overall

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

::8th

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 ...

::10th Road race ;2011 : 1st Stage 2

Tour of Utah The Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, was an annual multi-day road cycling race; traversing the states of Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming.Stage 5, in the 2014 edition, started in Evanston, Wyoming. Stage 1, in the 2015 edition, looped through Bear Lake C ...

: 2nd Overall

Olympia's Tour The Olympia's Tour is a cycling stage race held in the Netherlands. History A.S.C. Olympia was founded in Amsterdam on 27 November 1898. It ran one-day races but wanted a race through all the Netherlands. The first Olympia's Tour was in 1909, wi ...

: 9th Overall

Tour de Normandie Tour de Normandie is a road bicycle race held annually in the region of Normandy, France. The race started in 1939, but was not held in the periods of 1940–1955 and 1960–1980. It was originally a race for amateurs, but was opened for professi ...

;2012 : 1st Stage 4 ( TTT)

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 ...

: 1st Stage 2 ( TTT)

Tour of Qatar The Tour of Qatar was an annual professional cycling stage race held in Qatar. First organized in 2002, the event was part of the UCI Asia Tour until 2016. The 2017 edition was to have seen the event upgraded to the UCI World Tour for the firs ...

: 2nd Overall Tour de Vineyards ::1st Stages 1 & 4 : 4th Overall

Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen Dwars door West-Vlaanderen is a road bicycle race through the Belgian province of West Flanders. History The race was originally created unter the name Omloop der Vlaamse Ardennen (''English'': Tour of the Flemish Ardennes) in 1945 as a one-day ...

: 10th Road race,

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

;2013 : 1st

Japan Cup The is one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan. It is contested on the last Sunday of November, post time of 15:40 at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters (about miles) run under weight for age conditions with ...

: 5th Overall

Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after th ...

;2014 : 1st Prologue

Herald Sun Tour The Herald Sun Tour is an Australian professional bicycle race held in Melbourne and provincial Victoria, sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The first tour was held in October 1952 as a six-day event. It is now held annuall ...

: 2nd

Road race,

: 2nd Road race, National Road Championships : 7th Overall Tour de Vineyards ::1st Stage 5 ;2015 : 7th Overall

Bayern Rundfahrt The International Bayern Rundfahrt () was a stage race cycling race held each year in Bavaria, Germany, between 1980 and 2015. The race was held as an amateur race between 1980 and 1988, and from 2005 to 2015, the race was organised as a 2.HC even ...

: 8th

E3 Harelbeke E3 Saxo Bank Classic, previously known as E3 BinckBank Classic, E3 Harelbeke, Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke and E3-Prijs Vlaanderen, is an annual road cycling race in Flanders, Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke, covering 203 ki ...

;2016 : 1st Stage 5

: 1st Stage 1 ( TTT)

Czech Cycling Tour The Czech Tour is an annual men's professional multiple stage bicycle race held in the Czech Republic. It is the largest race of its kind in the country. Since 2015, the Czech Tour has been included in the UCI Europe Tour as a 2.1 series. The to ...

;2017 : 1st

, National Road Championships ;2020 : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 1 ( TTT)

Grand Tour results timeline

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bauer, Jack 1985 births Living people New Zealand male cyclists Cyclists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for New Zealand People from Golden Bay University of Otago alumni Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Cyclists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games 20th-century New Zealand people Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Commonwealth Games silver medallists in cycling