Jai Hindley isn’t on the 2022 Giro d’Italia to get wrapped up, waste time, or give up a single chance to pick up the available seconds. As he explained in perfect Australian slang on Monday’s rest day – he’s not here to put socks on a centipede.
He and his Bora-Hansgrohe team once again showed their intentions at the queen stage of the Corsa Rosa on the Mortirolo and the Valico di Santa Cristina in Aprica, with the Australian elbow to shoulder with race leader Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) at the end received a four-second bonus.
Hindley won the sprint and is now just three seconds behind the pink jersey.
The sprint left Hindley full of adrenaline, and with every second of rest and recovery also important he chose to turn quickly and go straight down to his hotel. He spoke briefly afterwards.
“It was a pretty epic day, as expected, with some hard climbs,” he said, the tiredness of the day left his voice a little less cheerful and less confident compared to Monday.
“I felt pretty good, so I tried a few attacks on the climb, but I couldn’t shake Carapaz and Landa. It was good to get the bonus seconds on arrival and gain time with other GC guys. All in all, it’s a good day and the feeling is good, everything is fine. “
Bora-Hansgrohe once again did a strategic race, with former driver and new sporting director Enrico Gasparotto taking advantage of his experience to advance several moves to his rivals.
Lennard Kämna and Wilco Kelderman re-entered the grand stage getaway. Kämna was close to victory, only suffering at the Valico di Santa Cristina, while Kelderman retired earlier to be there for Hindley, who always had Emanuel Buchmann by his side.
“Jai once again proved he was solid,” Gasparotto said encouragingly. “He even took four seconds in the sprint on arrival and this is the third time he has beaten Carapaz in this Giro. We are getting closer to the pink jersey.”
Hindley could try to bring the pink jersey to the mountain stage in Lavarone on Wednesday, but Gasparotto may prefer to let the Ecuadorian and Ineos grenadiers roast slowly under the responsibility of leading the race.
However, that would only leave the arrival of Saturday’s Marmolada Mountain to gain time for all of Hindley’s rivals ahead of Sunday’s decisive time trial. We should expect more team tactics on the steep and late climbs of the Passo del Vetriolo and Menador.
“Hopefully the weather isn’t too bad and we can get through the stage,” Gasparotto said when heavy rain and a storm hit Aprica after stage 16.
“We saw that Bahrain is also willing to do something and we should take this opportunity.”