For the second year in success, Adam Hansen hopes to complete all three Grand Tours in the same season, thus solidifying his place in a very select group of cyclists.
Less than 40 riders in the history of the sport have finished the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España in the same season. Last year Hansen was the only one to achieve the feat and, undeterred by the difficulty of the task – or perhaps feeling sufficiently masochistic – he confirmed to VeloNation that it is his intention again.
“It is actually my schedule again this year,” he said in the video interview below. “We will see how it goes…it is very difficult.”
Hansen is currently racing in the Presidential Tour of Turkey and will today aim to put in a big performance for the general classification. He was twelfth on last year’s toughest stage, the 1820 metre high summit finish of Elmali, and is motivated to push hard again there.
“With the team, we have got Andre Greipel here,” when asked before the start of stage one what Lotto Belisol’s targets were. “We hope to get a stage win for him. Then for myself, we will see what happens. Maybe something for GC or stage. Just try and be in the mix and be active.”
Hansen crashed out of the race last year but recovered in time for the Giro, the first of that run of Grand Tours. He said that there were no lingering effects of such a heavy workload.
“I am good now. It was hard last year, but I finished the season, had a good rest,” he said. “I started the season early in the Tour Down Under, then Tirreno and Milan-Sanremo. But I have had four weeks between there and here so I am all rested and ready to go again.”
Asked why he pushes himself so hard in taking on a trio of three-week races, his answer was a simple one. “I like the Grand Tours. It is good racing…yeah, I like it. It is good…”