Three stages, three seconds. The margins at the Giro d’Italia could not be tighter, but no one has the suspense in this race like Jai Hindley.
Two years ago, the Australian entered the final day one second ahead of Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) only to lose the pink shirt in the Milan time trial. On this occasion, he is approaching the last three days of the Giro d’Italia with a time bonus behind another Inos rider, Richard Carapaz.
“It’s very even, otherwise we wouldn’t be here three stages from the end of the Giro with only three seconds between them,” Hindley’s Bora-Hansgrohe sporting director Enrico Gasparotto told Cyclingnews in Borgo Valsugana on Thursday. “It’s definitely going to be a big battle.”
It has taken some time for the Giro’s blurry narrative to intensify, but as the race draws to a close this weekend, a direct duel between Hindley and Carapaz is beginning to look like much, although Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious ) still strikes with intent just over a minute ago.
This curious Giro has not yet offered a face-to-face confrontation between Hindley and Carapaz. From Romain Bardet to Vincenzo Nibali to Landa, the first two have always had company at the top in the toughest stages, but their contrasting styles have become more and more visible as the race progresses.
On the steepest sections of the Menador Pass on Wednesday, Hindley’s pedaling was still agile, while Carapaz’s seemed more laborious. There are no bonuses on the results sheet for elegance, of course, and Hindley and Carapaz are still more or less stagnant after more than 3,000km of racing.
“By the look on his face, Carapaz sometimes seems to be in trouble, but in reality, he’s not, and I think he’s pretty good at playing with that,” Gasparotto said. “And Jai does something similar. Or rather the opposite: if Carapaz always makes it look like he’s tired when he’s not, then Jai makes it look like he’s not suffering even when he’s getting really hard. I see it myself in TV from Team Car “.
Too close to call
Hindley lost four seconds to Carapaz when the peloton split in the first stage at Visegrád and lost another six in the time trial the next day in Budapest, but since then, they have finished together in 15 consecutive stages. Only the second extra – Hindley won 21 to 14 of Carapaz – provided more differentiation between them in the classification.
On Thursday, Hindley reached the finish of stage 18 in Treviso almost a minute ahead of Carapaz, but the Australian had punctured within the last 3 km, and the race jury quickly awarded him the same time as the main platoon. The three-second gap remains firmly intact as the Giro faces its final mountain stages, where something must surely give way.
Saturday’s Dolomite tappone on Passo San Pellegrino, Passo Pordoi and Passo di Fedaia is eye-catching, but don’t miss Stage 19, which diverts Friuli from neighboring Slovenia. Gasparotto, a native of nearby Sacile, took the time to drive the route last winter. The day includes the evil Kolovrat (10.3 km at 9.2%), which climbs to the Italian-Slovenian border, as well as the final route to the Santuario di Castelmonte above Cividale del Friuli.
Gasparotto, in his first Giro as sporting director, has already drawn up the game plan for Bora-Hansgrohe’s remarkable attack in the short and intense stage around Turin last weekend, and the pitch on Friday. it could offer another chance for your computer to try to isolate you. Carapaz of his Ineos team.
“Of course I have a plan and I’ll talk to the guys. But to move from here to put it into practice, you always have to consider the pros and cons,” said Gasparotto, who suggested that there was little . to choose between the depth of the secondary castings of Hindley and Carapaz.
“Our team is structured differently in the Inos, but on Wednesday we had five riders in the group at the foot of the Menador. We are very solid, otherwise we would not have done the Giro we have done so far. But then Ineos are also strong, and they had four pilots up there in the Menador. “
If the course and their respective teams cannot decide the problem, Hindley and Carapaz will face a tie in the 17.4 km time trial on Sunday in Verona. Hindley endured the hardships of losing the pink jersey in those circumstances two years ago, but his performance on the Budapest time trial at the start of the race hinted at considerable advances against the clock. Carapaz would be the favorite in case of a near tie before the time trial, but Gasparotto maintained that he would be far from an early conclusion.
“I think Budapest was one of the best time trials Jai has ever done in his young career,” Gasparotto said. “And in that time trial in Verona, with the rise of Torricelle, I think it’s there at the level of Carapaz. If you ask me, I’d rather get to Verona with two minutes in Carapaz, so we’re calm. On punctures or mechanics. But this Giro will be a great battle to the end. “
Last winter, Bora-Hansgrohe made the decision to invest heavily in this Giro, deploying his proven Grand Tour riders – Hindley, Wilco Kelderman and Emanuel Buchmann – as a leading triumvirate. Those plans seemed wise given Tadej Pogačar’s dominance in the Tour de France, but the big design was in danger of falling apart in late April, when Hindley fell ill before Liege-Bastogne-Liege and then Kelderman left. crashing into the race itself.
“On Monday after Liège we were thinking of finding reserves to replace Wilco and Jai in the Giro team,” Gasparotto said. “Going from this starting point to where we are now is clearly a positive surprise. But Jai has already been very solid throughout the winter and the first part of the season. He has always been growing and that has come out in this Giro .
“I think Jai is in the process of confirming the result he achieved two years ago. Getting a good result as a young driver is one thing, but confirming it is a little harder. So I would say that’s no surprise. as well as a pleasant confirmation “.