With his Godly and mythical name Adônis, he was destined for greater things. But he had a rough start. It all started in the slum of Rio de Janeiro. The Greek god Adônis was a man of true beauty. And so was little Adônis Lourenço. Like a glimmer of hope among all the misery.
In Norway we say we're born with skis on our feet. As for Adônis, his mum was so fat you might say he was grown inside a wheel. Cycling therefore was the natural choice for Adônis. He grew up in a very poor family, where his mum ate pretty much all the food belonging to the family. His only possession was a fairly crappy bike. And even though you might expect this bike to be stolen in this kind of neighbourhood, he was known for being the kid who had 50km distance to school and rode the distance on his bike to and from school every day. And he was given just enough respect for it, for both him and his bike to b...
Read moreWith his Godly and mythical name Adônis, he was destined for greater things. But he had a rough start. It all started in the slum of Rio de Janeiro. The Greek god Adônis was a man of true beauty. And so was little Adônis Lourenço. Like a glimmer of hope among all the misery.
In Norway we say we're born with skis on our feet. As for Adônis, his mum was so fat you might say he was grown inside a wheel. Cycling therefore was the natural choice for Adônis. He grew up in a very poor family, where his mum ate pretty much all the food belonging to the family. His only possession was a fairly crappy bike. And even though you might expect this bike to be stolen in this kind of neighbourhood, he was known for being the kid who had 50km distance to school and rode the distance on his bike to and from school every day. And he was given just enough respect for it, for both him and his bike to be left alone.
It was quickly discovered that this lad a talent for riding a bike. And having a 50km ride to school, he learned to ride this distance with the least amount of time. Obviously something that helped him a lot in holding a steady good speed for a long period of time. But even though his potential was huge, it was hard to find a team in Brazil that would invest time and money into this young kid. At the age of 18 he realised it was now or never and planned to make the trip to the US in search of a professional contract. He didn't have much money and not very likely to get a visa. So he got a sea captain to bring him on his ship if he agreed to do some cooking for his crew. The route was Brazil-Bermuda-USA.
He had his eyes set on the US and now he was really going there! But destiny wanted it differently. His ship would make a stop in Bermuda for a few days and Adônis figured he might as well take a look around in Bermuda. And to his surprise he found out that Bermuda was filled with Dutch cycling fanatics. Most of them were busy dealing with their cycling teams, but there was one guy who really couldnt be bothered with his team, focusing fully on the NT. His name was Llotyhy. And he was the one who first discovered Adônis' Godgiven talent and signed him on a professional contract. However, Llotyhy is a fully dedicated WT-manager, so he realised that he would need to find another team for Adônis in order for his talent not to become spoiled.
30 days later he was brought into the market where the highest bidder would win his signature. There was a lot of interest, but he ended up signing with a Norwegian TT-team whom Llotyhy knew would take good care of him. Shortly after his arrival he started training and he quickly proved to be the real deal. The manager of his Norwegian team Andeby, Donald, has been quoted saying this after finishing up his training: "We've trained a lot of fantastic TT'ers in our training academy, but this guy, mr. Adônis Lourenço, has shown the most promise of them all at his tender age."
Sky is the limit! Only time will tell how big his legacy will be!
Brazil