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Kaden Groves builds case for joining pantheon of Australia’s cycling greats | Kieran Pender

In just a short world tour career, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider’s back to back Vuelta a España stage wins shows he’s ready to make his markIn the history of Australian cycling, only a few dozen cyclists have won a grand tour stage. It is a mark of distinction, beating the best in the world at one of the three races that stand out on the annual calendar: the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España. Fewer still have won stages at multiple grand tours, or at the same grand tour across multiple years. Those honours belong to some of the greats of the sport in Australia: the likes of Phil Anderson, Robbie McEwen, Cadel Evans, Richie Porte...

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‘A significant moment in Australian sporting history’: Jai Hindley joins greats with Giro d’Italia win | Kieran Pender

The 26-year-old from Perth followed in Cadel Evans’s footsteps by becoming just the second Australian man to win a grand tourFor over a decade now, Cadel Evans has stood alone in Australia’s cycling pantheon as the only Australian to have won a cycling grand tour. With a history that dates back to the early 1900s, across a collective 288 editions of the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, only once had an Australian stood atop a grand tour podium at the end of 21 gruelling stages.No longer. On Sunday, Hindley matched Evans’s historic 2011 Tour de France triumph with Giro d’Italia glory in Verona. The 26-year-old from Perth, who says that being a professional cyclist was all...

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Australia’s Jai Hindley on brink of proving he deserves place at cycling’s top table | Kieran Pender

A second place finish in 2020 appears to have been no fluke with the 26-year-old again within touching distance of victory in this year’s raceOn Monday, Australian cyclist Jai Hindley made headlines for his peculiarly Australian turn of phrase. During the final rest day of the Giro d’Italia, the gruelling three-week Italian grand tour, Hindley was asked about his prospects with just a handful of seconds separating him from the hallowed pink leader’s jersey.“Yeah for sure, 100%,” said a confident Hindley. “Like, we’re not here to put socks on centipedes. We’re here to win the race. So yeah, why not?” His remarks clearly baffled the foreign journalists in attendance, one of whom asked him to clarify. “It means we’re not...

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Old-school racer Vincenzo Nibali gears up for what may be his last Giro d’Italia | Jonathan Liew

The Italian who races on instinct rather than power data will pay an emotional visit to his home town of Messina next week The Giro d’Italia begins on Friday and Vincenzo Nibali is not going to win it. We should probably be clear about that at the outset. Nibali has won it twice before, in 2013 and 2016, but that was a younger and hungrier man.Now he is 37, has not won a race of any real repute in three years and missed a big chunk of training time after catching Covid earlier in the year. When Nibali says his main goals are to ride for his Astana-Qazaqstan teammate Miguel Ángel López and hopefully pick up a couple of stages,...

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Tao Geoghegan Hart is the real deal. He deserves Giro d'Italia success

The British cyclist has a mature head on young shoulders, says his former coach and mentorI had been awake for a while waiting for the stage to start, playing through every scenario in my mind and hoping that everything – the course, the weather – went in Tao’s favour. It’s a big emotional moment for people involved in his development and for his own team too, because they have been through a lot this year. Related: Tao Geoghegan Hart's shock Giro d'Italia win 'the stuff of comic books' Related: Giro d'Italia: Geoghegan Hart seals shock win after time-trial – as it happened Related: GB's Tao Geoghegan Hart sensationally claims Giro d'Italia glory after time trial Continue reading...

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