Lasse Norman Hansen is regarded as one of the biggest talents in Danish cycling.

Only halfway into his third senior season, he has amassed an impressive palmarès on the road, including stage wins in the Coupe des Nations Ville Saguenay, An Post Rás and Tour de Berlin. Norman Hansen only narrowly missed the podium at last year’s ITT world championships in Valkenburg, but his undoubtedly biggest achievement came on the track at the 2012 London Olympics: First he got a fifth place with the Danish team pursuit squad, and in the following days the then 20-year-old showed great consistency to win the omnium gold medal.

Already at this stage there were teams interested in signing Norman Hansen: “I heard from several teams after winning the gold medal, but at that point I made it clear that I needed more time,” he told press agency Ritzau according to dr.dk, choosing to stay with Danish Continental team Blue Water Cycling for another year.

In early 2013 Norman Hansen focused on the track, winning the Copenhagen Sixdays together with Saxo-Tinkoff rider Michael Mørkøv as the famous “pair no. 7”. At the track world championships, he won a bronze medal with the team pursuit squad, and a silver medal in the omnium. After that, he turned to the road again, and with great success: Victories in the GP Herning and the U23 edition of the renowned German classic Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt showed that Norman Hansen is more than a timetrialist, while winning the ITT stage in the Tour de Berlin (where he also finished on the overall podium) provided another confirmation of his great ITT talent.

Yesterday the 21-year-old signed a two-year contract with Garmin-Sharp, starting in 2014: “It wasn’t hard for me to choose Garmin-Sharp. I have a good agent who has made sure I got the best possible contract.”

“After the first part of this year’s road season I think I have proven that I can transfer my ambitions from the track to the road,” Norman Hansen told DR Sporten. “I have proven to myself and others that I can perform, and not only on the track.”

“One of the positives about this contract is that I will have the opportunity to continue track racing as it is now possible to earn points that way,” he said, speaking of the fact that despite developing his road career, he will be able to prepare for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“I signed with Garmin-Sharp because they made the right offer. I like the way the team works, and I like their anti-doping stance. I expect the next two years to be very hard, but I also expect to develop very much physically.”

Norman Hansen will finish the 2013 season with his current team Blue Water Cycling, starting in Garmin-Sharp colours on January 1st, 2014.