“Oh, I hope so, mate, that’s the plan,” Jai Hindley joked with a smile from ear to ear when asked if we could expect any fireworks on Saturday.
Hindley, 28, was part of the Tour de France peloton when it rolled out of Florence on Saturday morning. And when he did so – in the home of the Italian Renaissance – it was the first official outing in his new kit.
The Australian is part of the new look Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe outfit, with the energy drink company swooping in as the new title sponsor on the eve of the Grande Boucle.
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“It’s a pretty cool look,” Hindley admitted as he posed in his new Red Bull kit while speaking exclusively to Daily Star Sport. “To have Red Bull on board, I think is massive….it’s a massive brand and image and sponsor.
Red Bull still seems like an outsider in the prim and proper world of road cycling. Red Bull’s rebel status stems from its basis in extreme sports, and the fact it was banned in Germany when the product first launched in 1987.
What do you think of Red Bull’s move into professional cycling? Let us know in the comments section
(Image: Samo Vidic / Red Bull Content Pool)
The brand, until this weekend, didn’t sponsor a team – as in the norm in cycling – choosing instead to sponsor individual riders.
Three riders in the pro peloton are currently Red Bull athletes: Wout van Aert, who cut his teeth in the Belgian cyclocross fields; Tom Pidcock, the current Olympic MTB champion; and Anton Palzer, who already had a Red Bull deal when he switched sports to cycling.
“For cycling in general, it’s huge,” Hindley continued, “But also for our team, it’s massive. So I’m really excited to be a part of it!”
(Image: Joerg Mitter / Red Bull Content Pool)
It will be Hindley’s second Tour de France this summer – having made his debut at the world’s biggest bicycle race last year. The Aussie arrived in France as a former Giro d’Italia champion – turning the famous race into the Jairo in 2021.
And after sneaking into a breakaway on the roads Laruns – Hindley took flight up the fearsome Col de Marie-Blanque As Jonas Vingegaard threw his first GC punch behind him, Hindley summited the col and descended to glory and, with it, the Yellow Jersey.
Hindley would relinquish the jersey after one day in the Maillot Jaune as Vingegaard and arch-rival Tadej Pogacar battled in the Pyrenees.
(Image: Joerg Mitter / Red Bull Content Pool)
This year, Hindley’s objective is different: “We’ve come with a pretty big ambition to try to win the tour with Primoz [Roglic],” he admitted.
Roglic was the big mover of the transfer season, swapping Visma–Lease a Bike (then Jumbo-Visma) for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe (then BORA-hansgrohe). The Slovenian superstar is aiming to win his first Tour, something he can so close to in 2020.
“We’ll see what opportunities come,” he added when asked about his own ambitions.