If he gets safely through today's 10km time trial, Adam Hansen will complete his 10th grand tour in a row. The Australian is proud of his performance and plans to do all three races in 2015.
If all goes well Adam Hansen will complete his tenth consecutive Grand Tour today. It’s an impressive list: Vuelta 2011, Giro 2012, Tour 2012, Vuelta 2012, Giro 2013, Tour 2013, Vuelta 2013, Giro 2014, Tour 2014 and Vuelta 2014. Only Bernardo Ruiz has done more in a row. The Spaniard completed twelve consecutive Grand Tours between 1954 and 1958. After today Hansen will stand next to Marino Lejarreta. Two day ago Hansen put the icing on the cake by winning the 19thVuelta stage.
“I get reminded quite a lot of the fact that this is my tenth consecutive Grand Tour," he said. "It will be nice to finish this one as well, that’s for sure. I look forward to that.
"Actually, I never thought about aiming for that goal of ten. I wanted to do three in a year at first. I had enjoyed that and the next season I did it again because I liked it. The same this year. Once people started talking about the number of ten of course I started thinking about it as well.
“For me it’s more special that I can finish ten times, without crashing or getting sick, than to actually complete ten Grand Tours. For me that’s more impressive. Just like the fact that I could stay healthy in between the races. I take very good care of myself, but I think you need a lot of luck as well. At the start there are almost 200 cyclists. A lot of times only about 130 to 140 finish. You have to ride save, be careful and take very good care of your body so you don’t get ill.
“Winning a stage in the Vuelta had really become a goal after my victory in the Giro last year. That was definitely one of the nicest moments I had throughout these years. But the stage win in this Vuelta was more spectacular because of the way I did it. Last year I became third in the 18th Vuelta stage, with a summit finish in Peña Cabarga. That was a very good performance.
"This year’s Tour de France is memorable thanks to Tony Gallopin wearing yellow. And of course all the stage wins of André Greipel over the years are beautiful memories. There have been a lot of nice experiences.
"I’ve enjoyed this Vuelta very much, it’s very active. I feel like I’m riding very well here. I’m feeling extremely strong and I’m on a very good level.
“Lotto Belisol gives me the opportunity to race these three Grand Tours each season. To get selected I have to be in good form of course. The team also gives me the opportunity to have long training periods in between the races and they’ve trusted me. The team knows that I can go to a race and be in good form just with training. It’s nice the team allows me to do this and I appreciate it very much. For sure I’m planning to ride the three Grand Tours next year as well. I’ll keep going."
In the time trial in Santiago de Compostela Hansen will ride with a special rear wheel which puts the focus on completing ten consecutive Grand Tours.
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