With 29 Grand Tours, which consist of the three major state tours Giro, Tour and Vuelta, he has contested more than all previous Upper Austrian World Tour professionals combined and, with 20 of them in a row, also holds the undisputed world record in the cycling circus. The Australian Adam Hansen returns after his long professional career on Sunday at the home Bundesliga opener in Leonding (from 11 a.m., live nachrichten.at) back to its initial roots.
In the service of the WSA KTM Graz team, the 40-year-old is still in the saddle for another year, although he had already declared the end of the Belgian top racing team Lotto-Soudal at the end of 2020. The love for Austria won’t let go of him, says team manager Christoph Resl, and: “For Hansen it also comes full circle.”
The former triathlete came to Graz in 2003. In 2006 he drove for the Aposport team from Linz at the time, alongside Christian Pömer, who is now Bora’s sports director. “Adam was a tinkerer, the first in the peloton to work on the aerodynamic seating position and even had the jerseys made himself without a collar,” recalls Pömer, who is currently in the coach’s car at the Tour of Catalonia. And even during his time in Linz, he would not only have been successful on the bike. “He was enterprising and created another mainstay in the real estate industry,” says Pömer. His sports car collection is also impressive, reports his ex-teammate, who is still in contact with him.
Important helper for the stars
As a professional abroad, Hansen made a name for himself helping stars like Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel, but he also won a Giro and Vuelta stage himself. From 2012 to 2017 he contested all three three-week national tours every year – a unique world record.
With his experience he should now help in Graz. Teammate Daniel Auer, who won in Leonding in 2019, is the favorite tomorrow.
Source: Nachrichten
