'The dream is to get a stage' - Finn Fisher-Black eyes Vuelta glory
Finn Fisher-Black was the latest guest on the Domestique Hotseat Podcast, joining Aidan Burgess ahead of the 2025 Vuelta a España, which begins on 23 August. At just 23 years old, the Kiwi has already ridden for Jumbo-Visma, UAE Team Emirates and now Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, where he is preparing for his second three-week race of the season.
Asked about his ambitions to win a stage in Spain, Fisher-Black was clear: “Yeah, I mean, that’s the goal. The dream is to get a stage here. I’m not thinking about GC at all, which is nice because you can kind of switch off some days,” he said.
“We’ve obviously got a pretty good leader here in Jai [Hindley] and so I’ll be looking to help him as much as possible in the GC but the focus is also to go for stages with this team. So that’s definitely my goal and I mean with the legs I had in Poland, I’m confident. It’s just about getting it done and in the first week already there’s a few opportunities.”
When asked whether he could start his Vuelta with a bang, Fisher-Black was already eyeing up the opening stages: “My kind of recipe to win a race is exactly like stage two and stage three. Those stages are kind of imprinted in my mind at the moment. If it’s a small group, which it tends to be on these kind of long elimination climbs, and I’m still there, that’s how I go for a win. I always kind of have the sprint left in me. I’ll be looking after Jai, but in the last 500 meters I’ll be going full for the line.”
Fisher-Black also referenced the iconic moment when Jumbo-Visma secured a full GC podium at the 2023 Vuelta with Sepp Kuss, Jonas Vingegaard and Primož Roglič.
On Visma's 2025 squad, Fisher-Black said "I guess they are already dreaming of what they did a few years ago with the full podium lockout. But yeah, that's our job to try and make sure that doesn't happen again."
"I think we could see in the team of Visma, there were a little bit of weakness going throughout the Tour. Maybe they've addressed that and they're locked down this time. I think like every team, we'll be looking for any cracks and trying to capitalise on any bad days that they're having, and hopefully get our boy Jai up on the podium spots."
Hinldey is already a Grand Tour winner thanks to his dramatic stage 20 performance at the 2022 Giro d’Italia, where he leapfrogged Richard Carapaz to take the overall victory.
Fisher-Black talked up Hindley's chances at competing towards the top end of the GC: "I think he's always been there. He's just had a bit of bad luck over the years. obviously that Tour [stage 5 in 2023] when he was in the yellow with the win, that was pretty impressive." he exclaimed.
Hindley suffered a nasty crash in the 2025 Giro, forcing him to abandon while sitting in a strong GC position. Reflecting on that setback, Fisher-Black said: “This year, I've heard he was really flying in the Giro until he crashed. He came down pretty hard so that knocked him out for a good part of this year as well. But yeah, he's going well, I think. He had a bit of a wobble in Burgos. He said he hadn't done the heat prep for it.”
According to Fisher-Black, the signs are now much more positive for Hindley: “He’s put in the work over the last couple weeks and hopefully he'll be ready for this one. And we back him, we believe in him. He's a Grand Tour winner so he knows what to do and yeah we'll be giving him everything.”
Looking beyond this Vuelta, Fisher-Black is clear about the rider he wants to become. “Yeah, think definitely I was talking about these baby steps and that for me right now is, you know, I've got got my first pro wins now and I'm looking for the World Tour win. And especially in these week long races like Down Under and Poland. The long term dream would definitely be to have a Grand Tour stage under the belt and also the Ardennes."
But one dream stands out above all. Amstel Gold is not just a race he knows by heart, it runs through the very region where he first came to Europe, while it is also one he believes deserves a proper celebration. “Yeah, I don't know what this is about. Yeah, like there's a few, feel like the trend is the guys aren't drinking the beer. Like, man, if I won Amstel Gold, that beer would be gone. There'd be a hole in the bottle. I'd be celebrating for the rest of the year if I won, you know? So I think that's got to change. This just kind of like putting the beer down. Come on guys, just want a massive race, like get amongst it.”
Catch the full Hotseat conversation with Finn Fisher-Black, only on Domestique.
