Jai Hindley (BORA-hansgrohe) is on the verge of achieving cycling immortality as the winner of one of the three prestigious Grand Tours that are the pillars of the professional road cycling scene.
As he broke away from race leader Richard Carapaz (INEOS Grenadiers) on the fearsome climb of the Marmolada, Hindley went deeper than ever before at this year’s race, utterly draining himself of energy to put as much distance between him and the rapidly diminishing figure of Carapaz.
Three kilometres of hard climbing later and Hindley collapsed just past the finish, the final results showing that he’d moved himself into the pink jersey with a decisive lead of a minute and 25 seconds.
The Giro d’Italia has never been won by an Australian, with Hindley himself the closest to achieving the feat, finishing second in 2020. The 105th edition of the Italian Grand Tour should, barring disaster, be taken out by the West Australian, a fulfilment of a dream long-held by him.
“I knew from a pretty young age that I wanted to be a professional cyclist and it’s all I’ve dreamed about,” said Hindley. “To be at the Giro d’Italia and wearing the pink jersey on the second last day, like I did two years ago, it’s really emotional. It’s really special.”
Hindley’s 2020 performance was a revelation, not from nowhere but certainly a massive improvement on his previous results in stage races. He came from well back in the field after a few minutes of time lost early in the race, surprising the more established general classification riders alongside fellow upstart Tao Geoghegan Hart (INEOS Grenadiers).
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Hindley falls just short of Giro win
Pundits began questioning the significance of that result as both Hindley and Geoghegan Hart had poor 2021 seasons, the Australian struggling with multiple injuries and illness, having to abandon the Giro d’Italia with a saddle sore before ending his year with a broken collarbone.
“It was a really bumpy road to get back here, with a tough season last year," said Hindley. “I didn’t know if I was going to be back in this jersey again, but now I am thankful to all the people who got me here.
“I finished the Giro in 2020 and I was super motivated to prove myself that I was capable of riding at that level consistently. I worked super hard in 2021 to be at a good level and I had quite a lot of illness.
“I went to the Tour of the Alps and the form was coming along and then on the second-last day I crashed super hard on a descent and had stitches in my knee. I was on antibiotics a week before the Giro and then I came to the Giro, I was sick after four days and then after the strade bianche stage I got really bad saddle sores.
“It took me off the bike completely for around one month and then after that I tried to get ready for the Vuelta again and in the end I wasn’t selected for the team.
“It was a very frustrating year. I had people asking me, ‘was 2020 a fluke’ and actually the whole of last year I was super motivated, and I trained well, but in the end it didn’t work out. It was very frustrating, but with the support of people in my inner circle I could get back to that level this year. It’s been a bumpy ride but I’m happy to be here.”
Hindley and BORA-hansgrohe had played the race mostly conservatively, saving their energy for key stages. Stage 14 was an exhibition of their strength, but there was confusion around their tactics on Stage 20, where they rode the front of the peloton for most of the day before pulling off and letting the race slip into a lull just before the final climb.
Today, the tactics worked perfectly as Hindley’s surge over the top of Richard Carapaz saw him join Lennard Kämna, who had been in the early break, with the German riding at a hard tempo until the Ecuadorian was dropped. Hindley then powered to the line to take the crucial time, with Carapaz passed by riders previously dropped as he faded.
“The initial plan wasn’t to have someone in the break, but when Lenny was in there then we said on the radio keep cool until the final climb and we’ll try to use him as a satellite rider,” Hindley said. “It was really a phenomenal ride from him today, to be out there in the break all day and drop back at that important moment and really give me this pull there in that part of the race was crucial. It was a phenomenal ride from him today and I’m very thankful.”
The Giro d’Italia 2022 will finish with Stage 21, a 17.4 kilometre time trial in Verona that will decide the winner of the famous maglia rosa. Watch the full stage from 9.35pm AEST on SBS On Demand, with the SBS television coverage starting from 11.00pm AEST. WA viewers can watch from 9.00pm AWST on SBS VICELAND.
