Giro d’Italia 2022 winner Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) has been confirmed as a starter in the Vuelta a España this August.
“The plan is he will do the Vuelta, he’s at altitude training camp, motivated and riding well so far,” team manager Ralph Denk told Cyclingnews during the second week of the Tour de France.
After taking second in the 2020 Giro d’Italia and a rollercoaster 2021, in the 2022 race, Hindley finally became Australia’s first ever winner of the Giro following a tense battle with Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) where the two were all but tied on time at the top of the GC for well over a week.
However, Denk said that the exact role Hindley will play in the Vuelta a España is “pending on the rest of the team.”
“It’s confirmed we’ll have a strong team, so there will be a lot of Giro d’Italia GC guys from the squad and [2022 Volta a Catalunya winner] Sergio Higuita will be part of it, so we will see. But for sure we’ll have a good team there,” he said.
The Vuelta a España was Hindley’s first ever Grand Tour, back in 2018, which he completed in 32nd place. His best placing was a ninth on the Balcon de Bizkaia ultra-steep summit finish, won by Mike Woods.
The 26-year-old has not raced since winning the Giro d’Italia. But from next week onwards he will likely take part in a string of Spanish-registered races this summer, said to include the San Sebastián Klasikoa (July 30th), the Vuelta a Burgos (August 2nd – 6th) prior to riding the Vuelta a España (August 19th – September 11th).
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