With the Giro d’Italia now just nine days away, races like the Presidential Tour of Turkey offer solid glimpses of the riders who are coming into form and who could be a factor in the Italian Grand Tour. On the basis of yesterday’s tough stage, the Australian Adam Hansen is on track to have a good race, with a stage win in Italy being his objective.
He showed strong condition when he placed thirteenth on stage three’s 1850 metre-high climb at Elmali. Being a bigger rider than most ahead and quite a few behind him, the performance was an encouraging one for him, particularly as this is his first race back after a long break from racing.
“I have got the Giro coming up so it is good to come here and give it a go,” the affable rider told VeloNation prior to yesterday’s stage. “I wanted to see what I could do and suffer a little, because I know next month I’ll be doing that a lot.
“For me, with my body weight, it is good if I can ride like that on the climbs.”
The 2010 Ster Elektrotoer champion also gave it a go yesterday, riding very strongly in the finale of the stage to Marmaris. He attacked hard on the penultimate climb, prompting a reaction from several riders including race leader Ivailo Gabrovski, and drawing a group clear.
Half-hearted cooperation from the riders in the move saw it brought back, but he went again on the last ascent before the downhill rush to the line. Lotto Belisol team-mate Andre Greipel did a huge turn on the front, using his sprinting power to ramp up the speed on the climb and providing a platform for Hansen to attack.
Once again his acceleration broke the bunch, but he was gradually brought back.
“The idea with the first one [attack] was to try to get a group to all work together and maybe get away,” he explained in a follow-up video interview just after the finish. “But we had the GC rider [GC leader] who came with me on the first climb and he didn’t want to work. Six other guys came with us and nobody wanted to work with the GC rider.
“On the last climb, It wasn’t a perfect idea because of the headwind but it was the only chance I got – I knew I wouldn’t have a chance in the sprint.”
Hansen isn’t optimistic that he will get another chance, reasoning that the easier finales for the remainder of the race will mean that Greipel will be the designated protected rider on stages five through to eight.
However he’ll continue to race hard anyway, maintaining this thirteenth place overall and also helping the team achieve the best possible stage results.
The Giro is the focus in the bigger picture, and he’s clear on what he hopes will happen there. “I’d like to be in a break that arrives at the finish – that would be nice – and have my chance there,” he said. “We have a young group of guys going there, and the team is going to give us all opportunities to have our own chances. Hopefully I can have mine.”
On the basis of his performances on Tuesday and yesterday, he fully warrants that chance.