Jai Hindley: "It's really unbelievable to win here"

It was a mixed day for BORA - hansgrohe as Wilco Kelderman lost the chance to fight for the GC at the Giro d'Italia, however Jai Hindley has taken over the responsibilities and won on the brutal ascent to Blockhaus.

In a post-race interview, Hindley has revealed: "I didn't feel this one coming. Actually, I was a bloc all the final climb. I tried as best I could to survive." With Lennard Kämna seeking the pink jersey, alongside Emanuel Buchmann and Wilco Kelderman, Hindley was only one of BORA - hansgrohe's many cards for today's stage. 

With Kelderman suffering a mistimed mechanical in the final descent, he ended up having a very complicated ascent in which he's lost over 10 minutes. However, the German team came out on top in the day, as Jai Hindley paced himself throughout the final ascent together with João Almeida in order to be in a position to win the stage.

He managed to bridge across to the front group of Richard Carapaz, Mikel Landa and Roman Bardet, and made his bid for the sprint with a planned move: "Once towards the end, I was figuring out how the last few kilometers were going. I remembered there was a final right turn. I wanted to get through that first and then give it my all. And now we are here," he added.

This was Hindley's first win since the 2020 Giro d'Italia, where he surprised to a second place in the final overall classification. With this win, he sits fifth and is likely to be BORA's main option for the GC as the race will be decided in the mountains.

"It's really unbelievable to win here. I didn't have the easiest year last season. I worked my ass off to level up and be back on level here in the Giro to compete with the best. I have no words for it, this is really fantastic," he concluded.