Australian Jai Hindley won the Tour of Italy on Sunday, May 29, after more than 3,400 kilometers of the race. The Bora-Hansgrohe rider had struck a blow the day before by taking the leader’s pink jersey from the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) at the finish of a long stage with a very difficult finish, with steeper slopes. by 11%.
Before the 17.4 kilometer long final time trial with a bump halfway through, Hindley had a lead of 1 min 25 s over Carapaz and 1 min 51 s over Spaniard Mikel Landa (Bahrain). More than enough since Richard Carapaz, tenth in the stage, only took 17 seconds from him on Sunday.
Italian Matteo Sobrero (BikeExchange-Jayco) won this 21st and final stage, ahead of Dutchman Thymen Arensman (Team DSM) and Belgian Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix).
Jai Hindley is making cycling history. At 26, he is the first Australian to win the Giro and the second to win a Grand Tour. In 2011, his compatriot Cadel Evans won the Tour de France, after finishing second twice (in 2007 and 2008).
It’s a nice revenge for Hindley, who lost the Giro in 2020 during the final time. That year, he had donned the pink jersey on the eve of the finish, but lost it the next day in the time trial in Milan to Briton Tao Geoghegan Hart.
The first Frenchman, Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), finished 14th in the Giro, 28 min 37 s behind Hindley. Winner of three stages, French sprinter Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) won the cyclamen jersey in the points classification.
