Giro d'Italia: Hindley celebrates a 'beautiful feeling' after clinching maiden Grand Tour title

By Sports Desk May 29, 2022

Jai Hindley celebrated his maiden Grand Tour triumph as he put heartbreak from 2020 behind him to win the Giro d'Italia.

Hindley went into Sunday's time trial with a one-minute, 25-second lead over Richard Carapaz, having overtaken the Ecuadorian in the Dolomites on Saturday.

The Australian was wearing the maglia rosa at the start of the final stage two years ago but finished second behind Tao Geoghegan Hart.

On that occasion, Hindley did not have a time advantage to play with however, and he did not let his lead slip in Verona.

"It's a beautiful feeling, I had a lot of emotions out there today," BORA-Hansgrohe rider Hindley said.

"I had in the back of my mind what happened in 2020, and I wasn't going to let that happen again. To take the win, it's incredible.

"I was getting updates and I felt pretty good on the bike. I wasn't really fighting it, so I knew I was on a decent ride.

"In the end, I took the descent pretty cautiously and then gave it everything to the line. It's an incredible feeling."

Hindley recorded a time of 23:55 across the 17.4km route, just over a minute-and-a-half slower than stage winner Matteo Sobrero (22:24), Italy's national time trial champion.

Carapaz, on his 29th birthday, was seven seconds faster than Hindley, but could not make a big enough dent as his place in second was confirmed, although he did extend his advantage on Mikel Landa.

Arnaud Demare's success in stages five, six and 13 meant he had already done enough to claim the maglia ciclamino, with Koen Bouwman confirmed as king of the mountains. 

Australia's day

Hindley's victory makes him the first Australian to win the Giro d'Italia and came 20 years to the day since Cadel Evans became Australia's first wearer of the maglia rosa.

"The pink jersey, it’s the most beautiful jersey in cycling," Hindley said. "It's a privilege and an honour to wear this again. It was a bumpy road to get back here and I didn't know if I was going to get a chance to wear this again."

STAGE RESULT 

1. Matteo Sobrero (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) 22:24
2. Thymen Arensman (Team DSM) +0:23
3. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) +0:40
4. Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) +1:08
5. Ben Tulett (INEOS Grenadiers) +1:12

CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS

General Classification

1. Jai Hindley (BORA-Hansgrohe) 86:31:14
2. Richard Carapaz (INEOS Grenadiers) +1:18
3. Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) +3:24

Points Classification

1. Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) 254
2. Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) 136
3. Mark Cavendish (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 132

King of the Mountains

1. Koen Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma) 294
2. Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) 163
3. Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates) 102

Related items

  • Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 Leipzig: Visitors fightback halts unbeaten streak for Alonso's side Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 Leipzig: Visitors fightback halts unbeaten streak for Alonso's side

    Bayer Leverkusen suffered their first defeat in 36 Bundesliga matches, as Leipzig came from behind to stun Xabi Alonso's side 3-2 at BayArena.

    Lois Openda struck twice for Marco Rose's, who recovered from 2-0 down to make it two wins from two and move to the summit of the table.

    It looked like business as usual for the reigning Bundesliga champions when they scored twice in the last seven minutes of the first half through Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo.

    However, Leipzig replied deep into first-half stoppage time with Kevin Kampl reducing the deficit.

    Openda then brought the visitors level in the 57th minute, before a stunning long-range strike completed the turnaround 10 minutes from time, condemning Leverkusen to their first league defeat in 15 months. 

    Data Debrief: Leverkusen's long streak comes to a shuddering halt

    Leipzig became the first side to beat Leverkusen in a Bundesliga match since Bochum achieved the feat a staggering 462 days earlier.  

    The visitors have begun a Bundesliga season with two wins from two for only the second time, also doing so in 2019-20.

    They are also now unbeaten in 13 league matches, their longest such streak since Rose took charge.

    As for Leverkusen, their invincible streak is officially history, as is their 29-game unbeaten run on home soil.

  • 'We really let ourselves down' - Coleman slams Everton after late Bournemouth collapse 'We really let ourselves down' - Coleman slams Everton after late Bournemouth collapse

    Seamus Coleman acknowledged Everton "really let ourselves down" and must "look at ourselves in the mirror" following their spectacular late collapse against Bournemouth.

    Sean Dyche's side, who were seeking their first points of the season, led 2-0 in the 87th minute at Goodison Park through goals from Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

    However, the hosts were undone by three crosses in the latter stages, with Antoine Semenyo pulling a goal back and Lewis Cook levelling, before Luis Sinisterra completed a sensational turnaround in the sixth minute of stoppage time. 

    Boos rung around Goodison Park as the Toffees remained pointless and rooted to the foot of the Premier League table, and Coleman echoed the supporters' frustrations.

    "We really let ourselves down in front of our fans," the skipper said. "We cannot take our foot off the gas at this level. Unfortunately, we did that.

    "We cannot be conceding the goals that we did. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror."

    Meanwhile, Dyche bemoaned the lack of responsibility amongst his players, as they became the first side in Premier League history to lose a game after leading by two or more goals in the 87th minute.

    "We did so much right until they scored their first goal," the Everton head coach said. "The game should have been out of sight. We conceded one and then threw it away. I can't put my finger on it right now.

    "They kept raining it forward and got their reward in the end. They were playing it forward and crossing it into the box, and we didn't deal with it. Simple stuff, but we threw it away. It is the third game we have thrown away this season.

    "Everyone was looking at someone else to deal with things and that is when there is trouble. You could see the body language change. You have to see games through, and we have enough experience to do that, but today we didn't."

    Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola added: "It was the worst game we played this season. Everton deserved to win today, but the players kept pushing.

    "I always have hope because this team has spirit. We have done it before and had some good comebacks. The spark of the first goal made us believe we could do it again."

  • Nottingham Forest 1-1 Wolves: Bellegarde beauty earns visitors first point Nottingham Forest 1-1 Wolves: Bellegarde beauty earns visitors first point

    Wolves earned their first point of the Premier League season following a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest.

    Chris Wood's towering header was cancelled out by Jean-Ricner Bellegarde's stunning strike as the spoils were shared at the City Ground.

    The hosts took the lead in the 10th minute as Wood rose to nod home from Elliot Anderson's corner.

    However, the visitors were level just two minutes later in spectacular fashion, with Bellegarde firing a stunning long-range volley into the roof of the net.

    Gary O'Neil's side had Sam Johnstone to thank after the break, with the debutant producing a strong hand to deny Wood his second goal of the game.

    Matheus Cunha curled a shot just wide while the offside flag denied Wood later on, with Forest unable to snatch victory but extending their unbeaten start to the campaign.

    Data Debrief: Wolves end losing streak while Wood matches Collymore

    After opening the season with two defeats and eight goals conceded, Wolves stopped the rot with a welcome point against their Midlands rivals, while ending a five-game Premier League losing streak in the process.

    Meanwhile, Forest remain unbeaten in their opening three games of a top-flight season for the first time since 1995-96.

    Heading his side into the lead, Wood became only the second Forest player to score in both their first two home matches in a Premier League season since Stan Collymore 30 years previously. 

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.