Cyclist
‘I don’t like to play the political game’: Adam Hansen profile
Adam Hansen was never going to sit still in retirement. The Australian former pro is best known for his record stint of 20 consecutive Grand Tours between 2011 and 2018, and for his loyal service to sprinters Mark Cavendish and André Greipel at the T-Mobile/Columbia/High Road/HTC and Lotto/Belisol/Soudal franchises. But as a gifted polymath with eclectic interests, Hansen has a uniquely energetic mind.
While racing, he built his own ultra-light carbon shoes and pioneered new approaches, using narrower handlebars, adopting a vegan diet and doing cross-country skiing in winter. He has also lectured in computer programming at Queensland’s James Cook University and built his own cycling logistics software. Since retiring he has taken up Ironman, achieving an impressive 15th place at the 2021 World Triathlon Long Distance Championships. But in 2023 Hansen accepted his toughest challenge yet: the thankless, politics-drenched presidency of the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA) – the largest union of pro cyclists in the world.
‘They asked me to put my hand up and be a candidate to be president, and I thought about it, but I was really enjoying doing triathlons, having time off and having a bit of a quiet life,’ admits Hansen, 42, a Queensland native who since 2004 has lived off-grid in Frýdlant nad Ostravicí in the Czech Republic, where he enjoys skiing, cycling and hiking in the mountains.
‘In my head I was 100% no. I’m not good at public speaking, I’m not good at politics, I’m too direct. But I like learning and testing myself so I thought, OK I’ll give it a shot. I put my hand up and it is just ten times the work that I was told. It is more than a full-time job. I have a problem with my girlfriend at the moment because I’m always on my phone.’
Hansen’s reluctance to get into pro cycling politics is exactly why he is the right man for the job. Anyone with an ego or excessive ambition would fail, but Hansen’s introversion means he understands other riders’ reticence, and his diligence and selflessness ensure he is committed to authentic change.
‘I don’t like to play the political game,’ he admits. ‘I just like going straight into it. For example, we had a call with the president of the UCI [David Lappartient] yesterday. That’s when all the riders can ask questions, and I said, “Hey riders, the president’s here, I encourage you to ask questions, go hardcore, really get into him and get what you want to know.” And the president was like, “Well, you don’t have to go hardcore!” But that’s how I want to act.’
Drawing on his experience as a pro, Hansen knows that most riders find cycling politics ‘too complicated’ and ‘just want to ride their bikes’, so he tries to make life easier for them by inviting them to WhatsApp anonymous questions for him to ask the UCI president.
‘I don’t mind putting my face in front of the riders to say, “No, no, this is what they want to know – please answer the question,”’ he insists.
The questions that cropped up during Hansen’s recent Zoom meeting provide a rare insight into the minds of modern pro riders. There were broad questions about improving the longevity of teams, sponsors and contracts, but also specific concerns about the hazardous gravel stages at the 2024 Tour de France.
‘We understand that it’s good visually on TV, but I agree with the riders on this stance where if you include gravel sections you have at least 70% of the peloton who have never been on a gravel bike, and you’re doing this at the world’s biggest race,’ says Hansen. ‘On the road, you can use your front brake, but using your front brake on gravel is very dangerous,’ he says. ‘So it is a different skillset.’
Union man
Hansen’s biggest responsibility so far has been negotiating a new Joint Agreement between the CPA and the AIGCP (Association International des Groupes Cyclistes Professionels), the organisation that represents the pro teams. Ratified on 1st January 2024, the agreement includes a 5% rise in the minimum wage to €42,047 for a men’s WorldTour rider (women’s WordTour minimum salaries have been set by the UCI at €35,000), a rise in health insurance to €100,000 and a rise in life and disability insurance to €250,000. Hansen was shocked at the holes in some teams’ insurance schemes.
‘Some teams were getting travel insurance for riders competing in Australia, China and Canada, and the travel insurance does not cover dangerous sports,’ he says. ‘Some don’t cover you above 2,000m. So this is one really important thing that we had to get changed.’
Safety is Hansen’s priority, especially after the death of Swiss cyclist Gino Mäder at the 2023 Tour de Suisse. A new initiative called SafeR will be introduced soon.
‘This is a joint project with the riders, teams, organisers and the UCI, where they will have auditors who will randomly go to races, like doping control, and make sure the race is put on in a fair way,’ says Hansen. The costs will be split between the UCI, organisers, teams – and riders.
‘Around 50% of all crashes are due to rider behaviour,’ says Hansen. ‘So riders do cause a lot of crashes themselves. But it’s also down to the organisers and other issues too.’
At Grand Tours, organisers have introduced more audio alerts, catch nets and safety signs, but races are getting dangerously fast.
‘The problem today is that the tyres are faster, the tyre pressures have improved, the wheels and frames are more aerodynamic, the riders’ positions are more aerodynamic, and riders are consuming more carbohydrates than ever, so they have more energy than ever,’ says Hansen.
He admits that riders need better education about speed and safety, but they cannot make cycling safer alone. He points out that Formula 1 drivers can use computer simulations to practise circuits, whereas pro cyclists compete on roads they have never seen before.
‘How riders do these corners at high speed is that they’re basically turning the corner and they look at the rider in front of them,’ he says. ‘If that rider is pedalling, they know that it’s straight afterwards. If the rider doesn’t pedal, they know they can’t pedal. And if the rider brakes, they know there’s a danger. And they’re basing everything on the information of the rider in front of them. Because they have no idea.’
That’s an insight that only a former pro could know. And it’s why he believes the key to safety lies in better course design.
‘If we talk about Arenberg, the Paris-Roubaix sector that is the most dangerous, we had a few sports directors call up saying: look, this is getting crazy, they just want broken bones and broken bikes,’ he says. ‘But the biggest issue with Arenberg is it’s almost like a sprint finish.’
Riders hit that sector at 50-55kmh, he says, so he would like to introduce two 90° corners to slow riders down, so they hit the Arenberg cobbles at 25-30kmh instead.
‘You can still have the culture of the sport, the sector is still exciting, but you don’t have riders coming in at 55kmh,’ he says. ‘This can improve the safety side of the sport without killing the sport.’
In the service of others
On the bike, Hansen’s role as a domestique conditioned him to sacrifice his own interests to help others. From that perspective, his CPA role feels like a continuation of his work on the bike.
‘I was always a helper,’ he says. ‘I was always helping Cavendish or Greipel. I don’t want to say my job was relatively easy. I did have a lot of pressure, but I was always a pretty good climber for my bodyweight, and I could always climb better than André and Cav.’
As a young pro at the all-conquering HTC-Highroad team, Hansen’s selflessness impressed Mark Cavendish. But over time Hansen worked more for the team’s other sprinter, André Greipel – a decision made by team DS Rolf Aldag.
‘He said to me, “The problem with you, Adam, is when you ride for Cav you give 100%, and when you ride for André you give 100%, but we have other guys who when they ride for Cav give 100%, but when they ride for André they give 60-70%.”’
Hansen’s professionalism made him an excellent team player. ‘I also don’t really like to be in the limelight,’ he adds. But his impressive career was also built on intelligent innovation. Adopting a vegan diet improved his weight and health, helping him to stay light and illness-free for all those Grand Tours. Working on his fat metabolism in training helped him to preserve his muscle glycogen for later in races. Building his own carbon shoes (at 76g per shoe, they were ‘lighter than a Mars bar’ he says) and using narrower handlebars saved him valuable watts.
‘I probably wasn’t the best cyclist,’ he reflects. ‘But I thought, if I can be as efficient as possible, this can really make a difference.’
His innovative approach unexpectedly prepared him for the kind of conflicts and debates he now faces at the CPA.
‘I was using 36cm handlebars and I had a fight with the mechanics because I had girls’ bars,’ he laughs. But he got used to calmly explaining and debating things. Some DSs called him ‘Twin Towers’ because of the high spacers he used on his TT bike to tuck his hands in front of his face. ‘Now look today: everyone does it,’ he says.
Hansen’s game-changing methods have certainly influenced modern pro cycling. Riders still pick his brains. Some order his €3,500 carbon shoes, made through his Hanseeno brand. Others ask about his vegan diet.
When reflecting on his career, Hansen gets annoyed that people ignore his two Grand Tour stage wins (Stage 7 of the 2013 Giro, and Stage 19 of the 2014 Vuelta) and only talk about his 20 back-to-back Grand Tours (he started 29 in total, finishing 26 of them). But he now recognises the historical significance of his feat.
‘No one else has done it and no one will ever do it again,’ he concludes. Hansen has ‘no regrets’ over his selfless career or the sacrifices he made.
‘It’s hard for some people to understand that, but when André won some races, I really felt that we won the races and we were really part of it.’
As president of the CPA, Hansen is a part of it still.
In for the long haul
The life and rides of Adam Hansen
1981
Born 11th May in Southport, Queensland, Australia
2004
Wins the Crocodile Trophy – a gruelling ten-day mountain bike race in Queensland – then repeats his victory the following year
2007
After three years as an amateur, signs as a pro for T-Mobile (later the HTC-Highroad-Columbia franchise). Rides his first Grand Tour at the Vuelta, finishing 88th
2008
Wins the Australian national time-trial championship
2011
Moves to Omega Pharma-Lotto (later the Belisol/ Soudal franchise) and is included in the Vuelta line-up, the first of his 20 consecutive Grand Tours
2012
Becomes the second Australian to start all three Grand Tours in one season, after Neil Stephens in 1992
2013
Wins Stage 7 of the Giro – the sole survivor from a 140km breakaway
2014
Takes a second Grand Tour win on Stage 19 of the Vuelta, edging clear with 5km to go
2015
Breaks a 57-year record by finishing his 13th consecutive Grand Tour at the Vuelta
2018
His record-shattering run of 20 consecutive Grand Tours comes to an end at the Giro
2020
Completes his 29th and final Grand Tour at the Giro
2021
Finishes 15th in the World Triathlon Long Distance Championship in the Netherlands
2023
Named president of the CPA – the pro cycling union – in March
Hansen on…
…his 20 consecutive Grand Tours
‘To get selected every year was not so easy. Not being sick: that was a huge thing, because riders always get sick. And not crashing out. So to have all that fall into place is not only a remarkable achievement performance-wise, but also just luck and being healthy and staying away from crashes.’
…lack of rider development
‘Back at HTC-Highroad [in 2007] they picked a whole group of riders [such as Mark Cavendish and André Greipel] that would develop into stars, and they knew their potential and they could sort of foresee it. Whereas today teams are looking at guys that are already good, and they’re just dropping huge amounts of money on them, crossing their fingers and hoping they will be this one kind of rider.’
…his vegan diet
‘People say: can you be a top professional on a vegan diet? Victor Campenaerts [Lotto-Dstny] right now is on a 99.99% vegan diet and he has been racing extremely well. And secondly, all professionals rely on vegan food as energy: pasta, rice, oats, sugar, glucose, sucrose – everything that’s energy-based is vegan. Eggs don’t give you energy. Steak does not give you energy. So from a performance point of view, every athlete should be vegan.’
…pressure in cycling
‘If you look at the team leaders, they have a lot of pressure. And if you look at Caleb Ewan [Jayco-AlUla] this year and the problems he had with Lotto-Dstny [his former team], he’s paid well – very well – to win, and when you are not winning, that’s a lot of pressure. And things can go south very quickly on the mental side.’
• This article originally appeared in issue 150 of Cyclist magazine. Click here to subscribe
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