‘I wasn’t going to let that happen again’ - Jai Hindley fuelled by final-day anguish in Giro d’Italia win

Updated 29/05/2022 at 19:13 GMT

Jai Hindley is the first Australian to win the Giro d’Italia! The 26-year-old suffered heartbreak the last time he wore the maglia rosa in 2020, but produced a sensible ride to see out victory in Sunday’s time trial ahead of Richard Carapaz after seizing the leader’s jersey on the penultimate stage. Hindley finished 1’18 clear of Carapaz to win his maiden Grand Tour for himself and Bora-Hansgrohe.

Hindley admits he had 2020 heartbreak in ‘back of my mind’

Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) admitted he had the anguish of 2020 on his mind before becoming the first Australian to win the Giro d’Italia.

The 26-year-old arrived into the final stage in an eerily familiar position, having seized the leader’s maglia rosa on the penultimate stage in the mountains ahead of the decisive time trial – the same scenario that he had experienced 19 months ago.

That time he had been powerless to stop Britain’s Tao Geoghegan Hart from stealing it straight off his shoulders, but on this occasion – shielded by a 1:25 buffer over Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) – he proved his close-shave with pink was no fluke.

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“It’s a beautiful feeling. A lot of emotions out there today,” said Hindley.

“I had in the back of my mind what happened in 2020 and I wasn’t going to let that happen again to be honest. To take the win is really incredible.”

Hindley never looked like surrendering his advantage after matching Carapaz at the first checkpoint, allowing him to come home without taking risks for a famous win.

“I was getting updates and I also felt pretty good on the bike, I didn’t feel like I was really fighting it. It felt pretty good,” he continued.

“And then I was receiving time checks and I knew it was a decent ride. In the end, I really wanted to take the descent pretty cautiously and I then I just gave it everything to the line. It’s an incredible feeling honestly.

When asked what it meant to be the first Australian to win the Giro, he added: “It’s really incredible. I’m really proud to be Australian and happy to take this one.”

First to congratulate Hindley over the line outside the amphitheatre in Verona was team-mate Lennard Kamna, the German climber so instrumental in the Australian snatching the race lead from rival Carapaz in the Dolomites just 24 hours earlier.

For the runner-up Carapaz, there was no surprise present wrapped in pink on his 29th birthday but he finished the 105th edition of La Corsa Rosa with his head held high after riding to a solid 10th place in the final race of truth – 1:24 behind stage winner Matteo Sobrero (BikeExchange-Jayco).