THE race of truth is all that stand between a new star on the Australian road cycling scene and a Grand Tour win at his first attempt, writes JOHN TREVORROW:
A STAR is born. Young West Australian Jai Hindley has snatched the leader’s pink jersey on the penultimate day of the Giro d’Italia and has gone from being one of the many promising youngsters on the world stage to a major player on the cusp of winning a Grand Tour at his debut.
In an enthralling final road stage which included three climbs of Sestriere the 24 year old from Perth – winner of this year’s Herald Sun Tour – looked rock solid. The same couldn’t be said for his Sunweb teammate and race leader Dutchman Wilco Kelderman. He was distanced on the first of the day’s three major climbs when a super impressive Rohan Dennis put the hammer down for his Ineos Grenadiers teammate Teo Geoghegan Hart. Australian Dennis even surpassed his brilliant ride of two days earlier up the dreaded Stelvio and by the second climb only Geoghagen Hart and Hindley could hang on.
On the final assent Hindley threw everything at Geoghagen Hart and the two best climbers in the race delivered an epic duel. The Englishman was able to reverse the result of their two-up sprint on stage 18 and take the win while Dennis was outstanding comfortably taking a fine third in the stage.
Embed from Getty ImagesGeoghahen Hart took the 10 sec time bonus for the stage win but Hindley was able to take the Maglia Rosa, the leader’s jersey by a fraction of a second because of the six seconds for his runner up spot and the one second he took at the intermediate sprint.
Those fractions of a second could prove significant in the final individual time trial in Milan. This epic stage against the clock known as the race of truth is run in the reverse order of general classification which means that Hindley will be able to get up to the second time checks on the Englishman.
“I’m speechless. It’s something I’ve dreamed about since I was a little boy,” an emotional Hindley said. “To wear the leader’s jersey in a Grand Tour is an incredible privilege. It’s not ideal to take it off Wilco but it’s nice to keep it in the team.”
Hindley attacked constantly on the final climb but never looked like shaking the determined Brit.
“He wasn’t looking super great the first time up the climb and I was thinking that I might be able to put time into him later but I just didn’t have it in my legs,” Hindley said after the finish. “I was trying everything but I just couldn’t get rid of him. So then I tried to beat him in the sprint but he was too strong.”
Sunweb have copped a bit of criticism regarding the team’s strategies over the past week, mainly from the Dutch press. Sunweb’s Directeur Sportif Aussie Luke Roberts was quick to defend their tactics.
“We had an advantage before the two big mountain days, but the way Ineos were riding, we had to keep Jai up there to stay in contention,” said Roberts, who admitted to being surprised that Kelderman was dropped so early in the stage.
“Yeah, I was a bit surprised that it was so early. I was expecting it to open up on the second climb, but it completely exploded. Wilco still did a good ride, he was with the other GC contenders. Jai was the only one that could follow Tao and Rohan, so we had to keep him in the wheel and keep him in contention.”
Although Hindley was always riding to team orders Dutchman Kelderman is obviously not completely happy with the fact that the team did not send Hindley back to help him on the Stelvio last Thursday. There is also the added bit of intrigue in the fact he is changing teams, going to Bora Hansgrohe next year.
“I don’t know if that would have made the difference in the end,” Kelderman said regarding tactics on the Stelvio. “Maybe we both wouldn’t have fought for the win,” he said. “I think we did it in a good way. Jai can win the Giro and that is also very cool for the team.”
As often mentioned, the individual time trial is the race of truth. But in the final stage of a grand tour there are many variables that come into play. After three tortuous weeks of racing it is often not just who may be the better rider against the clock but, very importantly, who has something left in the tank. The other variable is the value of wearing the leader’s jersey. As has often happened in Grand Tours, when a rider is wearing that prestigious symbol, and borrowing from a well used slogan of an energy drink, “It gives you wings”.
I rode the Giro in 1981 and the final stage was a 42 km individual time trial into the beautiful Arena in Verona.
The stage was won by Norwegian Knut Knudsen who was the Filippo Gana of that time but all focus was on race for the overall and could young leader Giovanni Battaglin hang on with two heavyweights hovering only a minute behind.
Most experts were divided but only on which of the challengers would beat Battaglin a brilliant climber but not a noted time trialler.
Fellow Italian Giuseppe Saronni, who had won the Giro two years previously or
Swede Tommy Prim, a world class time trialler.
Prim did manage a fine second place in the stage behind Knudsen but Battaglin flew over the flat course and finished an incredible third in the stage and won that Giro by 30 seconds.
There lies the analogy for the Giro in 2020.
JOHN TREVORROW is a multiple Australian champion road racer and Olympian who has been doing media commentary at the Tour de France for more than 20 years.
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