Hindley back on track after tough 2021

Volta a Catalunya winner Sergio Higuita aside, you would arguably be hard pushed to find a more contented member of the Bora-Hansgrohe team after the race than Jai Hindley.

This time last March, the 2020 Giro d’Italia runner-up was facing his first of two DNFs in a mountainous stage race, quitting the Volta a Catalunya on stage four and then abandoning the Tour of the Alps a few weeks later. As for the Giro, where he had to quit on the day of the Zoncolan with a saddle sore, it’s probably just best quietly forgotten.

It’s a very different story 12 months on. Quite apart from being an instrumental part of teammate Higuita’s great win in the Volta a Catalunya, Hindley himself is on the up. Plus he still feels there’s more to come.

Eighth in the crucial mountain stage at Boi Taull and 13th overall, the Australian has also quietly claimed a solid fifth overall in Tirreno-Adriatico, as well as seventh on a summit finish in the UAE Tour.

All a far cry from 2021 and also a sign that Hindley, like Higuita, has quickly found his feet at his new team for 2022, Bora-Hansgrohe.

“Super-rough,” is how Hindley frankly described his final season at Team DSM to Cyclingnews after the Pyrenean stages of the Volta a Catalunya. “I was sick at Paris-Nice and that continued into Catalunya. And here it’s maybe not quite as good as what I hoped for, but compared with last year I’m very happy with how things are going.”

But it’s not just dodging the illnesses, Hindley said, that’s given him a better foundation for 2022. “Last year, I had a slower build-up and this time round I’ve been training pretty hard pretty early.

“With how cycling is going, you have to be at every race in really good form if you want to compete, and last year I was always