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The 26-year-old Bora rider becomes the first Australian rider to win the Tour of Italy. And how beautiful is this victory! Hindley was able to emerge victorious from a large crank game between Landa (Bahrain) and Carapaz (Ineos). The pink jersey was the most consistent of the three, and waited for the final ascent of the last mountain stage to place a sharp attack and blast Carapaz. Strong on the climbs, tactically clever, a little lucky on the edges, Jai Hindley has what it takes to be a good Giro winner. After his 2nd place in 2020 behind Geoghegan Hart, this time it is on the highest step that Jai Hindley climbs. A nice revenge for him after a year 2021 filled with galleys.
Arnaud Démare definitely loves Italy. The French sprinter made us dream again on this Giro 2022 by winning 3 stages and hanging on in the passes to bring the Cyclamen jersey home. The FDJ rider even beat little Caleb Ewan, at Scalea during the 6th stage, with a magical jump of which he is absolutely not the specialist. Desire, success and courage, Arnaud Démare and his high-performance train ticked almost all the boxes this year. Too bad not to see him on the roads of the Tour de France next July, where the FDJ will go with its climbers.
With the Dutchman, it was total delight on this Giro 2022. Victorious in the first stage in Visegrad and wearing the leader’s pink tunic, Van Der Poel then put on a show for 3 weeks. Almost daily attacks, presence in the breakaways, climbs of cols either at the front at the level of very good climbers, or at the rear while having fun with the fans… Mathieu Van Der Poel was a hell of a race dynamiter. And that we love!
Criticized for not having been at the end of the Tour de France last season, Van Der Poel has this time well and truly seen the big arrival.
The Italian from the Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert team impressed us with his courage on this 105th Giro. Unbreakable despite a huge accident 2 years ago and a fall in the descent of the Mortirolo on this Giro, the little Italian seduces the whole Boot and more. Third top 10 for the 39-year-old rider on his Tour! After his 8th place in 2012 and his 9th place in 2008, “Pozzo” is back among the greats, and that’s good when you know that the Italian did not yet have a team at the start of the season. , and that he almost never rode a bike again… Hats off sir!
Intensities, high slopes and difficult sequences, this is what was offered to the riders lined up for this Giro 2022. And if the gaps at the finish show how much the cyclists may have suffered (more than 9 min gap between Jai Hindley, the winner, and Nibali, solid 4th), the spectators were able to take great pleasure in following this Tour of Italy, too often considered boring in past years. It’s a pity that Romain Bardet couldn’t express himself a little more on this demanding course.
The Flops
Coming in numbers, the Ineos-Grenadiers team leaves this Giro 2022 empty-handed. Its leader, Richard Carapaz, will have been solid for 3 weeks but will have cracked the day before the finish at the expense of the winner Jai Hindley. Tactically undermined by Bora and Bahrain-Victorious, Ineos lost its crown in the Tour of Italy. The formation managed by Dave Brailsford had gleaned the last two editions of the Giro (in 2021 with Bernal and in 2020 with Geoghegan Hart).
It’s hard to admit it, but the Frenchman wasn’t at the level of the top 10 on this Giro… The Cofidis rider quickly understood that he wouldn’t be among the best, dropped much too early in the first steep sections of the course. He finished 14th more than 28 minutes behind Jai Hindley. Guillaume Martin still tried to reassure himself by going for a stage victory. In vain… He still finished 1st overall in France after the retirement of Romain Bardet.
The irregularity. A word that perfectly characterizes the career of the British rider… Double winner this year (2nd stage during the individual time trial in Budapest, and 14th solo stage in Turin), the leader of the BikeExchange formation is still disappointing with a another retirement on a big lap… In any case, he was out of the game for the general standings, even though he had come for that. Seriously, Simon Yates is pissed off with the three-week races!
