"Primoz Roglic is the main guy for the Giro, but expect the unexpected" - Jai Hindley doesn't rule out GC challenge of his own at the 2025 Giro d'Italia

The fight for the Maglia Rosa at the upcoming Giro d'Italia looks set to be an incredibly open and exciting one. Of all the pre-race favourites though, it's Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe leader Primoz Roglic that has the most pedigree. The Slovenian can also count on former Giro d'Italia winner Jai Hindley as one of his key mountain domestiques.

Hindley had an admittedly quiet 2024 season, but the Aussie is starting to show signs of a rising level in 2025. Already this year, the 28-year-old has claimed top 10 general classification finishes at the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana, Tirreno-Adriatico and most recently, the Tour of the Alps. "I was hoping for better legs. But it is how it is, and I think the form is not bad, but I was hoping for better for sure," Hindley tells Cycling News from the Alps. "Stage 4 was a tough day, also for everyone, the weather was really challenging and made it a really tough day out. Also, the way we raced was pretty aggressive, I would say. It just wasn't a great day for me, but that's how it goes."

In the end, Hindley had to settle for 8th in the final GC. A solid performance, although perhaps not the sparkling showing he might have liked in an increasingly rare leadership opportunity. "Every race you get is an opportunity, but we have such a strong team now, so to go to a race as sole leader, you really have to make the most of the opportunity when it comes around," he admits.

That's not to say that Hindley is necessarily complaining about a reduction in his leadership chances though. "It's cool. I think in general in modern cycling, you go to a lot of races with multiple leaders, and I think that's a better way to play it for teams, to have numbers in the final if you can," he explains. "It definitely helps everyone."

And at the aforementioned Giro d'Italia, Hindley is keen to play this role alongside Roglic. "Normally, Primoz is the main leader. Primoz is the main guy for the Giro, so we'll see. But it's a long race, and you have to always expect the unexpected, but for sure he's the main guy for our team," he concludes. "From my previous experience, it always takes a while to get it going and to find the race feel again. In general, I'm feeling okay, but I think hopefully it gets better for the Giro. I'll just chill out and take some easy days. It's been a really tough week here, every day with some hard climbs and tough racing, so I think it was good to get this in the legs. Hopefully I can rest a bit and come on the up for the Giro."