Jai Hindley explains why Grand Tour riders no longer seem to crack like they used to

The Australian started the final week feeling “better” than he had on the previous rest day, when reports of illness had surrounded him, and said he was ready for what he expects to be a decisive block of mountain stages.

“I feel good, better than I was the last rest day, so that’s a good sign,” Hindley said to CyclingPro.net. “I’m ready to go, ready for a big fight. There are a lot of hard stages coming up this week and I think the race will be made in the next days.”

Hindley sits fifth overall, 3:43 behind race leader Jonas Vingegaard and less than a minute off the podium. He said his approach for the remaining stages was simple.

“Just grind, mate. Just grind every day,” he said. “It’s going to be a big fight. The guys ahead are really strong, as they’ve shown. It will be an interesting race. It’s far from over and we have some big days to come.”

The final week includes three summit finishes, starting with Tuesday’s stage, and Hindley pointed to the coming mountain stages as the key battlegrounds.

“They will all be key stages,” he said. “The double Piancavallo [Stagw 20] stage will be really tough. The day before, with the stage over the Passo Giau, will also be really hard.”

Asked whether modern training and fuelling have reduced the chances of seeing major contenders crack late in a Grand Tour, Hindley said most teams are now too well prepared for the kind of dramatic bad days that were once more common.

“I think everyone is pretty dialled in these days,” he said. “That’s also why we ride so fast. It’s the evolution of the sport."

“I don’t really see anyone having a super bad day anymore. I think that shows with the education and with the nutrition, to be honest. Probably no one is eating just scrambled eggs on a rest day like they used to.”

Hindley said his own rest day nutrition remained straightforward and consistent.

“A bit of rice pudding, a two egg omelette, a bit of bread,” he said. “Simple, man. Keep it the same.”

The 2022 Giro d’Italia winner has often performed strongly in the final week of Grand Tours and said he was hoping that pattern would continue.

“I like the third week,” Hindley said. “Everyone’s a bit tired and it’s a bit less stress in the bunch. I always seem to feel all right in the third week, so hopefully this Giro is not any different.”