Stage winner Hindley only thought about survival for a long time

Jai Hindley could hardly believe on Sunday that he had won the toughest mountain stage so far in this Giro d’Italia. The Australian, who previously shared the leadership at Bora-hansgrohe with Wilco Kelderman and the German Emanuel Buchmann, climbed to fifth place in the general classification. “I didn’t feel very good on that final climb. I was only thinking about survival,” said Hindley, who two years ago, still working for Sunweb (the predecessor of DSM), already won a stage and finished second in the final classification. .

Hindley, who saw Kelderman drop out of the standings, managed to rejoin some front runners in the last kilometer and defeated Frenchman Romain Bardet and Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz in the sprint. “I knew I had to get through the last corner first, then I gave it my all.”

Last year, his first at Bora, he got off the Giro and finished the season without a win. “I’ve had a difficult year. I worked hard after that to get back to this level. Winning here now makes me speechless.”