Jai Hindley is feeling more than a pinch from crash-related injuries at the Tour de France, where he dropped from fourth to fifth overall after stage 15 to Mont Blanc on Sunday.
Hindley was one of many riders who came down in a mass pile-up on stage 14, in which he suffered a hematoma after hitting his back and side hard on the tarmac.
The 27-year-old was examined by Bora-Hansgrohe medical staff on the team bus at the start of stage 15, which he had earmarked from the outset of the race, and was cleared to compete as other victims of the crash continued to abandon due to injuries.
“He didn’t lose a lot of skin but took a hit on his right side,” a Bora-Hansgrohe statement read. “After ruling out any major consequences from his crash, he received treatment by our physiotherapists. He felt a bit sore this morning, as expected, [but] after the treatment he’s feeling better and okay to race.”
‘Bit sore’ may have been an understatement, with team manager Ralph Denk later revealing the extent of pain Hindley was managing.
“He was really suffering when I saw him this morning. He was not able to walk normal,” Denk said.
“If you have a hematoma like this you cannot get always in the right position and then all the other muscles are not really relaxed and blocked after some hours of effort. And of course, the engine [is affected], if the body sends all the power to recover this hematoma, not the power to recover in general.”
Sports director Rolf Aldag yesterday speculated that had it not been for the crash, Hindley would have been able to stay with Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers), who bumped the Australian from third on the general classification by consuming his healthy time advantage while on the way to a solo stage win.
Hindley on Sunday was able to stay with the yellow jersey group until deep into the 179km trek from Les Gets to the Mont Blanc summit finish, which included a total five categorised climbs – presumably hell for someone who less than 24 hours before said it hurt to climb out of the saddle.
Despite this he was still the best-placed Australian on the stage, finishing 25th after being well-supported by teammates.
The climber lost touch with the yellow jersey group with some 3.7km remaining, as Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates), soon after, set a tempo even his…
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