It was an infamous scene at the Giro d'Italia, with Australian fans on the edge of their seats as Jai Hindley struggled to pull on his jacket ahead of the monster ascent from the Stelvio and maintain pace with Rohan Dennis and Tao Geoghegan Hart amid the icey winds.
After swerving wildly a few times, he eventually pulled it on - though not getting it zipped for the descent - and subsequently won the stage for his first Grand Tour stage win. It was a marker of Hindley's breakthrough second place overall and his arrival on the world scene.
“That day will always be an incredible memory for me, winning my first Grand Tour stage and starting an incredible last few days of the race,” said Hindley to The Peloton Brief, who is auctioning the jacket to raise funds for Tour de Cure.
“Yeah, a little tongue in cheek after the jacket incident at the Giro, but I wanted to take this opportunity to raise visibility for an amazing Australian charity.”
The jacket on auction isn't the original of infamy - as it was discarded mid-race - but this one signed by Hindley and is a Giro-specific jacket due to Hindley's then lead in the youth category of the race.
“Well… the actual jacket seen on TV is on the side of the road somewhere," said Hindley, "so this is another one but exactly the same. It’s for a good cause, so it’s a small detail, and it’s still the Giro provided white (youth classification) leader’s jacket.”
Tour de Cure is an Australian charity that hosts rides, events and cycling-related fundraisers to gather money for distribution to cancer research aimed at improving effective treatments, survival and quality of life for cancer sufferers.
