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“This was not really the plan," said Hindley fresh off winning Stage 5 of the Tour de France and about to head onto the podium to receive the first yellow jersey of his career. "We kinda improvised out there, it was the way I enjoy bike racing. I found myself in that group and enjoyed it.
"I wanted to put as much as time as possible on the GC, and win the stage… and now find myself in the yellow jersey."
It was a gamble that paid off handsomely, and one that may have the other top contenders for the general classification ruing the time they let the Australian out of their sights.
The start of the stage was fairly standard for a mountains day where there is a real chance of the breakaway contesting the stage win. Lots of teams were keen to make the move, and the pace stayed high early while most attacks were neutralised quickly.
Then, a large group snapped the elastic holding them to the peloton, with 36 riders, including representation from most teams. Hiding in there was last year’s Giro d’Italia winner Jai Hindley, with two of his strong lieutenants for the mountains, German pair Emanuel 'Emu' Buchmann and Patrick Konrad alongside.
They quickly gained a big advantage on the peloton, pushing out to a minute and a half quite quickly, perhaps before the peloton realised the presence of the Australian general classification threat. Also in the move were Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) both relevant as their teams, especially the super-squad of Jumbo-Visma wouldn’t commit to chasing the escapees down.
Yellow jersey holders UAE Team Emirates were left to make the pace by themselves, but it was a fairly standard chase, using up their normal workhorses of Vegard Stake Laengen and Mikkel Bjerg. With that level of effort, the gap kept on pushing out for Hindley and the break, with the Western Australian rider not having to expend that much more effort than he would in the peloton, with the potential of a big payoff by the stage finish.
Hindley was more attentive on the climbs and descents, taking more responsibility on himself to follow moves and set the pace, but he was smartly conserving where he could rely on his teammates.
It all came down to the final climb, with Hindley springing away from the breakaway, while behind it was Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) who put two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) to the sword with a ferocious attack as they approached the summit of the Col de Marie Blanque.
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Stage 5 - Daily Highlights - Tour de France 2023
Team radio being part of the broadcast gives a little extra insight into the tactical considerations of the race, and BORA-hansgrohe's directors were in Hindley's ear, reminding of the difficulties of the descent. Hindley actually had reconned the stages about a month out from the Tour de France, telling SBS Sport in an interview about the importance that he was putting on the early stages, a strategy that has clearly paid off.
“It will be a GC fight from day one. I think it’s better to get there in really good form already and be ready to go day one as opposed to trying to build into it throughout the race,” said Hindley.
Now, it's a GC fight with Hindley at the top of the standings, with a 47 seconds lead over Vingegaard and an immediate challenge to face with the first summit finish of the race and the Col du Tourmalet coming tomorrow.
The task is a big one, but the Aussie has shown he's got plenty of tricks up his sleeve.
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