'It's great to be back at the pointy end of a Grand Tour' – Jai Hindley upbeat as battle for Vuelta a España podium heats up in final week

It may be the second rest day morning of the 2025 Vuelta a España, but even if he's 15 days into a Grand Tour, when he talks to the media Jai Hindley's delight at being back in the mix of things in a three-week stage race is still crystal clear to both see and hear – even via conference call.

As the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider had told Cyclingnews at the beginning of the Vuelta a España, since his stage win, 24 hours in yellow but subsequent bad crash in the 2023 Tour de France, he's not had the easiest of runs in the Grand Tours, culminating with his heavy fall and abandon with major concussion in the first week of the 2025 Giro d'Italia.

In the 2025 Vuelta, on the other hand, Hindley is currently sitting an impressive fourth, with his first Grand Tour podium since 2022 as his main goal for the final week – but he's not ruling out going for higher than that.

Above all, as Hindley says, he's just enjoying the experience of being back in the thick of the GC action and looking for a top finish in Madrid, and in a race he really likes and appreciates as well. Or as he colourfully puts it during the interview: "The Vuelta is a pretty sick race."

Talking to a small group of journalists on the morning of the Vuelta's second rest day, Hindley agrees instantly that his form is probably the best since he won the Giro d'Italia outright back in 2022. And given how that particular race worked out, it's little wonder that he's sounding so optimistic.

"If I'm honest, it's been a long time since I've been at this level. So it's nice to be back there," he says.

"It's hard to pinpoint [the why] but it's not like I've been sat on the couch doing nothing, I've been giving everything and doing everything I could.

"But for one thing or another it didn't work out and it has been pretty frustrating. So it's great to be back at the pointy end of a Grand Tour, which I haven't been for several years."

For things to have come together in the short-to-mid-term, he says, the Giro crash and subsequent recovery period hadn't stopped him from then slotting into the build-up he and the team had already planned for the Vuelta. And on top of that, not having done a full Grand Tour this year unlike several other top contenders such as Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), first and third overall, could be also be benefiting him.

"Beyond that, there's just been hard graft," he says. "I'm super happy, too, with the riders and staff – they're giving their all and that gives me a lot. When that happens, you want to deliver for yourself and for the team."

Going for the podium – or more?

While the Vuelta is still the one Grand Tour never won by an Australia, thier recent history of top three finishes in the Vuelta is a rich one, with Cadel Evans in 2009 and Jack Haig in 2021 both securing third, and Ben O'Connor second overall just last year.

"The podium would be really nice, and the team also deserve that. But it's not a given nor would be easy to do, it'll be a big fight every day to the finish," Hindley says.

And as for going for the win? "For sure you race to win bike races, simple as that," he replies.

"At the the moment the race is for the podium, but in the end it's a Grand Tour, it's three weeks long and it can be very unpredictable.

"I'm feeling pretty good, and in general, the Vuelta is still to play for."

Hindley has the advantage, he says, that ever since he did the Vuelta as his first Grand Tour back in 2018, he knows that he can remain on track in the third week. It's not a strength all riders have, but that ability to recover deep in the third race has been key to his previous Giro and Tour success. On top of which, as he says, the Vuelta is a race that he always finds very attractive just as a competition in itself.

"I really enjoy racing the Vuelta, you know? It's a pretty sick race," Hindley says about his third participation.

"The last couple of years I was normally meant to do it, but I was coming out of the Tour in a body bag. So I was really happy, super motivated to do it this year, it was like, the big goal. I've always enjoyed racing the Vuelta, I've had fun and it's a really cool race to do."

Time trialling

It's been so far, so good for Hindley in this year's Vuelta, but when it comes to shining in the final segment, his work over the last two years on his time trialling could be critical.

The presence of Red Bull's Dan Bigham and Johnny Wale in the team, the head of engineering and technical performance manager respectively, has been instrumental for handling the improvement in the weakest element of his skill set, Hindley says.

Given Thursday's 27.2 kilometre time trial in Valladolid is still to come and gaps are still small at the top of the GC, their work is likely to prove vital in the overall battle. As Hindley puts it, "it's a huge benefit."

Just 32 seconds off the podium behind Pidcock, Hindley feels the race for the top spots will go all the way to the Bola del Mundo ascent on stage 20, calling it "pretty decisive." In his favour, he knows some of the climbs that day from the last day through the Sierras of Madrid in the 2022 race. However, he's not overly fond of the memories from that day, despite making fourth at the finish, his best stage result, and placing ninth overall.

"Oh man, if I'm honest, I suffered the most I have in any stage to fight for the top ten. It was a big battle, but I remember the climbs round there are really hard, and with three weeks already, to have a day like that before the finish, everybody's all in. So it'll be an epic day for sure, but I'm looking forward to it."

Given those big mountain challenges to come, the presence of up-and-coming climbing talent Giulio Pellizzari in the Vuelta as a teammate is something Hindley also appreciates. The 21-year-old Italian is doing well in his own right, too, currently sixth overall and offering a second option to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe in the GC fight.

"He's a really cool guy," Hindley says of Pellizzari. "He's a ball of energy in the team and good value off the bike, too. It's nice to see him in the white jersey while doing a great job supporting me in the mountains. He's a big star now but for sure he'll be a big star in the future. He's a massive talent."

Almeida, Vingegaard and what's to come

In the present, meanwhile, João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Vingegaard are making the running on GC alongside Pidcock, with Vingegaard racing more conservatively than expected but holding onto the overall, while Almeida and UAE are snapping up stage wins galore.

"You can't really argue with UAE's strategy, how many have they won? Seven? That's quite a lot," HIndley says. "And the race isn't over."

While he is the first to point out that he is not a sports director, he does see some flaws in the super team's approach.

"Tactically, UAE probably could invest a bit more in Almeida and his GC, though, because Almeida's probably got the legs of his life here."

Hindley argues that Vingegaard's efforts in the Tour could explain his relatively calm approach – with the notable exception of when the Dane blasted off on stage 9 – as well as Visma losing a rider, France's Axel Zingle, early in the first week.

"It's not been an easy race to control, they've basically had two guys" - Dylan van Baarle and Wilco Kelderman - "burying themselves each day to control it. So a team they have to ride more conservatively and choose their days."

"I don't know how Jonas is feeling but he wasn't too shabby up the Angliru, either."

"Like you say, he wasn't aggressive but you've got to be pretty aggressive anyway just to get to the top of that bad boy."

"Maybe he's not at the Tour level, but he's still at a good level anyway, probably enough to contend for the win."

As for Hindley, then, the podium is a major target of his own, his confidence is high after coming through strongly in the second week and with the knowledge that in third weeks of Grand Tours he almost always can shine.

But what's probably making the biggest difference of all is that he's back where he knows he should be, in the thick of the GC action. And after three challenging years, Hindley knows there's no time like the present to prove what he can do.

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