'I knew it was possible' - Felix Gall and Jai Hindley celebrate Giro d'Italia podium after final battle up to Piancavallo

Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) sprinted to the finish in Piancavallo ahead of Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek), the final seconds of their Giro d'Italia GC battle reflecting the balance of power of the last three weeks of racing.

They were all again distanced by Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) as he won his fifth mountain stage of the Corsa Rosa and extended his lead to over five minutes, with Gall yet again the second best at the line and second on GC. Hindley followed him in to secure his third place overall, 6:25 down on Vingegaard.

Gee-West was again as strong as the podium contenders and gained time on his top-five rivals but he will ride into Rome in fifth place on GC at 7:56. The Canadian managed to distance Thymen Arensman (Netcompany Ineos) but the Dutchman limited his losses and hung onto fourth overall at 7:02.

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After the stage Gall again slumped into a folding chair supplied by his Decathlon team, a smile of satisfaction slowly replacing his pain. Following two top ten places in the Tour de France and one in the Vuelta a España, the Austrian has stepped-up with consistency across the three weeks to take his first Grand Tour podium.

"I'm so proud of what we achieved as a team," he said, with fellow Austrian Gregor Mühlberger celebrating loudly alongside him.

"It was such a nice group here. Of course, it's easy to have a good atmosphere when you're performing as a team but right from the beginning, we started with a really good energy. We all did our best and every single one of us stepped up and improved."

Gall seemed to enjoy racing the Giro and was consistently strong across three weeks. He always tried to hang on to Vingegaard and then ensured he was second overall by finishing second five times behind the Dane.

"I was physically maybe a little bit better than usual," he said.

"We went into this year with the objective of a podium, and I knew it was possible. But a lot of things have to come together and for sure we did a lot of things right in the preparation.

"Then other circumstances were also in my favour: we had no bad luck, no crash, more or less no sickness. It was pretty much perfect. Now, I'm just happy it's over."

Grand Tours are the pinnacle of cycling

Hindley was also happy the Giro suffering was over. He had to fight back from illness during week three to keep battling for a podium place in Rome.

"Finishing on the podium is super nice," the Australian said beyond the finish line in Piancavallo as the fatigue and emotions of finishing the mountain stages caught up with him.

“It was a super hard day. I was pretty tired after yesterday but I think I wasn’t the only one. There were a lot of tired boys out there…"

"I haven't done a result in a Grand Tour in a while and to be fighting for the podium is really nice again, after last year coming close in the Vuelta."

When Hindley climbs on to the final podium in Rome, alongside Vingegaard and Gall, it will be his first Grand Tour podium since winning the 2022 Giro. He was also second in the 2020 race behind Tao Geoghegan Hart. The Western Australian was seventh in the 2023 Tour de France when making his debut and was fourth in the 2025 Vuelta.

"For me the Grand Tours are the pinnacle of cycling and to be competitive in cycling and to be competitive in Grand Tours is what I ride my bike for," Hindley said.

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