By Christoph Sicars and Tom Mustroph, dpa
Jai Hindley celebrated his extraordinary success in special company.
Just in time for his big coup at the 105th Giro d'Italia, the 26-year-old Australian professional cyclist's parents flew home to Italy to celebrate the first overall victory in a Tour of Italy by a rider from Down Under in Verona.
In the city in north-east Italy, the 26-year-old pro from the German Bora-hansgrohe racing team secured overall victory in the final individual time trial on Sunday. "It's an incredible feeling, with great emotions. Of course, I had 2020 in the back of my mind and was a bit scared of losing the jersey," said an overwhelmed Hindley afterwards, adding: "I'm a proud Australian and I'm really happy."
Still second in 2020
In 2020, Hindley had already started the final Giro time trial in Milan as the overall leader, but had to concede victory to Britain's Tao Gheoghan Hart. This time, Hindley did not allow the maglia rosa to be taken from him and completed his greatest success to date as a professional cyclist in the Arena of Verona - and the first overall victory in a Grand Tour for his team Bora-hansgrohe.
Hindley ultimately finished 1:18 minutes ahead of Richard Carapaz from Ecuador. Hindley had taken the pink jersey from the 2019 Olympic road champion and overall Giro winner on the Fedaia Pass the day before. Third place on the podium went to Spaniard Mikel Landa, who finished 3:24 minutes behind Hindley.
The day's victory in Verona went to the Italian Matteo Sobrero after the 17.4 kilometre race against the clock, ahead of the two Dutch riders Thymen Arensman and Mathieu van der Poel. The best German was Lennard Kämna in 13th place, 1:31 minutes behind Sobrero, with Hindley two places behind in 15th.
Buchmann seventh - Kämna with stage win
But it wasn't just Hindley, who celebrated not only overall victory but also victory in the ultra-difficult ninth stage on the Blockhaus, who brought joy to the team from Raubling in Upper Bavaria. Emanuel Buchmann finished seventh overall, 13:19 minutes behind Hindley, and was the second Bora pro to finish in the top 10. Compatriot and team-mate Kämna had already secured the only German stage win in the first major national tour of the year on the fourth stage on Mount Etna.
"I had an extremely difficult preparation with lots of setbacks. I'm not at my absolute top level, but I'm still doing quite well. And I also see it as a positive that I was able to ride at a good level for three weeks without any serious crashes or illnesses," Buchmann told the German Press Agency. Buchmann thus achieved the best German overall placing in a Tour of Italy for 39 years. In 1983, Dietrich Thurau finished the 1983 Giro in fifth place overall.
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