The next big cycling dream of Giro d’Italia winner Jai Hindley is to win the Tour de France, but fans may have to wait another year to see him in action.
Key points:
- Jai Hindley, who has never competed in the Tour de France, says he hopes to do so next year
- The Giro d’Italia champion says he admired Cadel Evans when he was younger
- Hindley says he felt overwhelmed by the support of Australia, especially his hometown of Perth
Australia’s latest cycling superstar said she believed she could emulate one of her heroes, Cadel Evans, by becoming the second-largest winner of the country’s biggest sports race.
“By the way, why not? Never say never,” Hindley said, when asked if she could emulate the efforts of childhood hero Evans since 2011.
“It simply came to our notice then.
“My biggest plan would be to ride the Tour. This is my fifth year as a professional and I’ve never done the Tour, so it would be a big step forward.
“Not necessarily riding for the overall standings, but just riding the Tour would be super special.”
However, after the mental and physical toll of winning the three-week Giro, Hindley said he would aim for the Tour of Spain and the World Championships back in Australia as a priority this year.
“Maybe next year [for the Tour]I don’t know, “Hindley said.
“That would be pretty amazing.”
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The Giro d’Italia champion, who spoke during his holiday after the race with his girlfriend in Italy, said it was “amazing” to have joined Evans as the second Australian to win one of the big tours. of cycling.
“Phenomenal. Cadel is a well-known name in Australia. If you ask the average person on the street that he didn’t know anything about cycling, he would still know Cadel Evans,” he said.
“He’s one of the most important and influential Australian cyclists ever, so getting something like him is very, very special.”
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The 26-year-old added that he had come to compete in Europe for the first time in 2011 and went to see the Evans cycle on the Tour in France.
“So I was actually on the side of the road with my family watching the race live,” Hindley said.
“Going on TV was great, but being there was crazy. Looking back and knowing, I was there watching Cadel win the race, it was a lot of fun.
“I was also in Belgium when he did the time trial on the penultimate day [in Grenoble]. It was a great time for Australian cycling. I will never forget to see it. “
Hindley said he had been overwhelmed by the response he had received from his home, especially from his base around Perth, both during and after the race.
“[It was] quite overwhelming, “he said.
“It simply came to our notice then.
“I just want to say this to all the little kids, especially all the kids at Midland Cycling Club [in Perth] where I started and I had big dreams of making it big in the sport – that it’s possible to get it if you do all the hard work and you want it enough and dream about it ”.
AAP