Jai Hindley accomplished what he so narrowly missed out on two years ago by sealing overall victory in the Giro d’Italia on Sunday — becoming the first Australian rider to win Italy’s Grand Tour.
Hindley finished 1 minute, 18 seconds ahead of 2019 champion Richard Carapaz following the concluding individual time trial, which finished next to Verona’s Arena, a Roman amphitheater.
The victory was all the more sweet for Hindley after he entered the final stage of the 2020 Giro wearing the pink jersey only to finish runner-up to Tao Geoghegan Hart. Hindley said that second-place finish haunted him for months afterward.
“I had in the back of my mind what happened in 2020 and I wasn’t going to let that happen again,” Hindley said.
Carapaz finished seven seconds ahead of Hindley in the time trial but Hindley had entered the final day with an advantage of 1:25.
“I was getting updates and I felt pretty good on the bike,” Hindley said.