Everything you need to know about Australia’s newest cycling star

Chances are you had never heard of Jai Hindley before he became the first Australian to win the Giro d’Italia, holding out Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz to claim the revered maglia rosa (pink jersey).

The West Australian overcame the heartbreak of losing the leader’s jersey on the final day of the 2020 Giro with a much-improved performance in the final stage time trial.

Hindley only turned pro in 2017 and, still only 26, there’s a good chance we’ll be hearing a lot more about the laid-back West Australian.

So, who is Jai Hindley?

1. He’s in rare company

As well as being the first Australian to win the Giro, he is only the second to win one of cycling’s esteemed grand tours (consisting of the Tour de France, Vuelta a España and the Giro). The last was the 2011 Tour de France triumph by Cadel Evans, who incidentally was the first Australian to wear the maglia rosa as overall leader exactly 20 years ago.

2. He’s come close before

The West Australian came agonisingly close to winning the Giro in 2020, coming into the time trial on the final day wearing the leader’s jersey only to be pipped by Britain’s Tao Geoghegan Hart. Hindley had the memory of 2020 firmly “in the back of my mind” as he held off Geoghegan Hart’s Ineos Grenadiers’ teammate Richard Carapaz, who could only shave seven seconds off Hindley’s 1 minute 25 seconds lead.

3. A ‘cracking’ comeback from illness and injury

Determined to prove his 2020 wasn’t a quirk of a pandemic-affected racing calendar and diminished field, things did not go to plan in 2021 for Hindley. Then racing with Dutch team Sunweb, he withdrew from his first race of the year, Paris-Nice, with illness, before developing a saddle sore at last year’s Giro which saw him withdraw before Stage 14. Just as he was returning to form, Hindley fractured his collarbone in a crash at the Tour of Slovakia to cap a forgettable campaign.

4. ‘Pressing the reset button’

After three years with Sunweb, Hindley joined Bora-hansgrohe at the beginning of 2022 in a change he described as “like pressing the reset button”. Hindley wore his new colours to a wind tunnel in California, where he worked on his positioning and technique in a bid to vanquish the ghosts of 2020. The move has paid off for both parties, with Hindley delivering Bora its first overall grand tour win since its inception in 2010.

Jai Hindley kisses his team colours after claiming the pink jersey at the Giro d’Italia’s penultimate stage.Credit:LaPresse

5. It’s been a long time between drinks

Now based in Girona with long-term partner Abby Chandler, Hindley had not seen his family since a brief stopover in Perth after winning Melbourne’s Sun Tour in February 2020. Parents Robyn and Gordon, a Manchester-born cycling tragic who coached his son’s early success, witnessed their son lift the winner’s trophy in Verona’s famed Roman amphitheatre. Hindley described the reunion as a moment to savour.

“I’ll take it easy for a bit, sink some beers, park up and just really savour the moment.”

6. He took a year off cycling to play rugby union

Hindley initially wanted to be a footballer but turned his attention to cycling after watching the 2003 Tour de France at aged 6.

In an interview with Ride Media after their son’s 2020 Giro podium finish, Robyn Hindley said he enjoyed the camaraderie of rugby union during a year-long hiatus from cycling but was back on the bike as soon as possible.

Hindley’s whippet-like frame was probably never going to stand up to life in a ruck, and the Hindleys can be thankful their son chose to fight it out in the peloton instead of the scrum.

7. He wasn’t there to ‘put socks on centipedes’

He may have spent most of his career in Europe since moving to Italy as an 18-year-old, but Hindley hasn’t lost his Australian turn of phrase – much to the confusion of international media. Asked by The Age and the Herald at a virtual press conference whether he intended to become the first Australian to win the Giro, he said he was “not here to put socks on centipedes”. When a British journalist stuck around at the end of the presser to ask what exactly he meant, Hindley clarified.

“Socks on centipedes, mate,” Hindley replied. “It means we’re not here to play around.”

Imagine the headlines if he’d used the one about the arachnids …

8. We could see him on Australian roads in September

Even in the afterglow of his historic victory, Hindley declared his intention to push for Spain’s Vuelta in August and then the World Championships in Wollongong just a week later.

“It’s not every day you get to do the worlds in your home country, especially when you’re from Aus,” he said. “So yeah, I’m super keen to be in that team.”

9. He is one of many Aussies riding the roads in Europe

The last two years have seen a golden run for Australian cyclists on the world stage. Tour veteran Richie Porte finally claimed a podium finish at the 2020 Tour de France, before Hindley’s second-placed finished at the Giro. In 2021, West Australian Ben O’Connor finished just off the Tour podium in fourth, while Jack Haig finished third at the Vuelta a España, where Michael Storer – Hindley’s former clubmate at Perth’s Midland Cycling Club – won the overall mountain classification.

All but Porte are on the right side of 30 and with professional cyclists commonly believed to ‘peak’ between 27 and 31, we may not have to wait much longer to see a third Australian win a grand tour.

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