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news
Adam Hansen during 2016 Tour de France (CC licensed by Andrew Sides via Flickr).jpgPro cyclist tells border guards “Google me” after deportation threat
Lotto-Soudal professional cyclist Adam Hansen has revealed how a visa mix-up resulting in border guards at Vienna airport threaten him with deportation to his native Australia.
The 38-year-old, who last month completed an unprecedented 19th Grand Tour in a row at the Vuelta a Espana, has homes in the UAE and the Czech Republic but holds an Italian passport as well as his Australian one.
In a blog post for Velon Hansen, who on Thursday starts the final UCI WorldTour event of the season, the Tour of Guangxi, revealed how his problem had been caused by his ownership of two passports.
“I had a bit of a nightmare with my visa for China,” he explained.
“I was heading to train in the UAE from Vienna airport, but I’d sent my Italian passport to Milan to get my visa for Guangxi.
“I was travelling on my Australian passport and they couldn’t find the stamp for entering Europe.
“I said, ‘I entered on my Italian passport’, and they said, ‘Well where is it?’ I said, ‘It’s in Milan at the Chinese embassy’.
“They said: ‘Well you’ve overstayed in Europe, so you get deported directly to Australia.’ They took me out the back and I was interviewed. They wanted to give me a €3,000 fine on top of deporting me.
“It was a bit stressful,” added Hansen, who also revealed how he managed to avoid being forcibly put on a flight to Australia.
“I didn’t like to use the line, but I said: ‘Google me, you’ll see I’m a cyclist and I’m going to race in China’. They Googled me and let me go.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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31 comments
Immigration doesn't do the originating nation any favours if those moving truly do have desirable skills. It just strips that country of all their skilled workers and leaves it a charity case.
This is all Europe has done for the East, left them with dying areas as all the young people have left. I thought the idea was to build member nations up not resource strip them.
I say anyone who is not of pure Pictish heritage should go back to where they came from.
Which bit of woodwork have all these political commentary muppets crawled out from
so, there are still some controls around the EU border ? i'm surprided !
if only they had the same attitude with the hordes of migrants ! but no, perhaps he should have told them he was one ? sooo much easier ...
As a cyclist and the way I am treated by local and national government and the far right of society I am starting to be aware of how they minorities maybe treated . I can take off my Lycra and get treated like normal . But I refuse to pretend I am anything else. Jamminamatrix needs to start jammin to Bob Marley instead
***White Guilt Alert***
Soon all the TV adverts will feature loads of cyclists in Lycra. One day James Bond will be a cyclist ... and Dr Who ... and even the Oxo family might sit down to dinner in Lycra one day after finishing a bike ride.
It's difficult for Europeans to get into Europe these days.
Most of the Border Force officials at my local (UK) airport appear to be of Pakistani origin.
and......
Well I haven't had any problem getting back into Europe (UK) after going to Africa and America; seems like the computer likes my face even though the picture is now 10 years old and I have a hipster beard. Perhaps it is the way you are looking at the guards in the queue; people from Luton don't like being stared at either.
Born and bred here, holders of UK nationality, performing checks to keep the UK safer for biggots like you.
And the relevance is what, pray tell ?
Having had various friends and colleagues over the last 40-50 yrs (and for that matter, the majority born here) of assorted asian/middle eastern/Arab descent and of various religions (or none/lapsed) , I'm fucked if I could have told you if they were 'pakistani' or not. Do they have an 'M' tattoed on their forehead, or have I missed something ?
Fwiw, we had a security guard at my old place studying for British citizenship. Most brits probably wouldn't bloody well pass
Jamminatrix I think you'll find that the immigrants that came into Austria were fleeing a war in their native Syria not for economic gain. This is a cycling website if you want to express such political views I suggest you visit the Daily Mail's website where you'll find plenty of like minded people (just don't mention you're a cyclist).
That really must be an immense amount of inner turmoil for poor old Jamminatrix. Frothing at oneself can't be good for the mind.
And the bombing/war in Syria (& other middle east countries) is itself part of a bigger political aim which is clearly worded in the United Nations dictats ... to have a forced migration programme from the Middle East into Europe.
Those who beleive that the bombings etc are to curtail terrorist organisations are very, very much mistaken. it's all part of a much bigger agenda which roots from certain powers who wish to supress the masses by turning them against each other and gain ever more control/wealth/power.
Although the shutting your borders to refugees/migrants on the face of it might seem far right, it's kicking back against something that is far more pernicious and evil.
Do you actually believe this nonsense?
The frightening thing is he probably does.
That you and others can't open your mind to the obvious with plenty of evidence to prove it and also fail to ackowledge or simply be too ignorant over something that does exist within the UN to force migration from the Middle East is pretty fucking frightening.
You sound like a pair of weak ass brain dead sheeple, the type that wears a cycle helmet because frighteningly you'll believe it'll save your life or some other made up shizzle.
You seem to be a very angry man. Have you thought about getting help?
Thank you for your analysis of my character, as they say feedback is a gift.
It took great ingenuity to work helmets into this thread. I avoid helmet threads, never commenting on them as they bore me, but I am glad you have felt the need to tell me what my view is. Have you thought that obsession with certain subjects is unhealthy for you?
I suspect my view on immigration and politics is a little different to yours, I won't debate it here and abusing people is not a highly effective way of convincing people of the merit of your argument.
Enjoy your day and do something that makes you smile. You could watch the CX video of the rider on the sand, it made me smile........ oh, you have seen it - it seemed to make you angry. Well try something else then.
You sound like a bellend.
Its shame that expressing views has to be combined with insults these days... no one remembers the viewpoint, only the insult.
Personally speaking, I think BehindThe BikeSheds viewpoint on the middle east situation is far closer to the truth than the lack of opposing viewpoint presented by anyone else.
Whether you believe the UN, US government or whoever is looking to actively migrate people into Europe or not, you have to accept that western governments are at best complicit with what is happening in the middle east, if not major aggitators.
I would encourage everyone to do some research into this and share their discoveries and viewpoints.... no insults
You're right, BehindTheBikesheds totally has the moral high ground.
I think many people would agree that the West has a lot to answer for in the current state of places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other war torn parts of the world.
Suggesting, without providing evidence, that it a conspiracy theory to migrate people is a bit bizarre.
Throw in some casual racism from some other posters and it will descend fast.
He does not provide any evidence, but he does present a clear reason why the migration is being stimulated: "it's all part of a much bigger agenda which roots from certain powers who wish to supress the masses by turning them against each other and gain ever more control/wealth/power".
So what's your argument, except the white guilt and the racism cards you've played?
To see the root of the problem, have a read of "The Culture of Critique" and learn about their massive cumulative subversion in many fields; these people are very in-group ethnic predators, wolves in sheeps clothing, despite all their (self)deceptive, cult-like, victim propaganda, and their created Left-wing ideologies only for their strategic benefit. Their Frankfurt School weapons of subversion have and are causing significant and increasing cultural and demographic damage world-wide, even in traditionalist, collectivist, culture oriental countries, like Japan!
Care to show us this wording?
Jamminatrix, tell Vlad hello for me.
I'm betting they have to reroute a lot of Australians who got on the wrong plane
So Austrian officials will deport a wealthy professional athlete, but happily accepted over 100,000+ economic opportunity migrants the last couple years? No wonder their country is about to vote far right in elections today.
Well, it wasn't exactly 'happily' - hence the rise of the far right in the elections today.
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