At 3pm local time, Adam Hansen will roll down the Giro d'Italia start ramp in Apeldoorn to start his 14th consecutive grand tour with Lotto Soudal. The Australian started his run back in 2011 at the Vuelta a Espana and broke the 68-year-old record of 13 straight grand tours held by Bernardo Ruiz at last year's Spanish grand tour.
During his record setting run, he has helped teammates to stage wins in all three grand tours and a stint in the Tour's yellow jersey while also enjoying grand tour stage wins of his own at the 2013 Giro and 2014 Vuelta.
"The Giro will be my fourteenth consecutive Grand Tour and it's nice that I've come this far. But I treat it as any other race, regardless the number," Hansen said of his achievement on the eve of the race. "I want to do this race as much as anyone even though I have done so many Grand Tours. To me it has just become something I do. Also this year I am motivated to ride all three Grand Tours. I do this because I enjoy the style of racing. It's a mix of many different styles and I like to be on the road and have race after race after race."
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Since making his grand tour debut at the 2007 Giro, Hansen has missed just seven of the three week races and starts the 99th Corsa Rosa having finished 17 of the 20 he's started. Of the three grand tours, it's the Giro which the 25-year-old looks forward most of all.
"The Giro is the most passionate one of the three Grand Tours according to me. I just love Italy and the atmosphere at the race there," he reflected. "During the stages we often pass beautiful places, but unfortunately it's very difficult to remember exactly where. In all those years I've crossed the whole country and have seen a lot of amazing places which aren't the typical tourist destinations, it's these places I like the most."
Hansen's stage win is just one of the fond memories which contributes to the Giro being such a special race as he added.
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