Australia’s Hindley takes Tour de France yellow

Australia’s Jai Hindley has seized the Tour de France’s yellow jersey after claiming the first mountain stage of this year’s race during an eventful ride in the Pyrenees. 

Hindley was part of an early breakaway and became the first Australian leader of the race since Rohan Dennis in 2015.

The 2022 Giro d’Italia winner managed to become the eighth Australian to lead the grand tour after he made his move to solo to victory with 20 kilometres to go on stage five.

Hindley had gotten himself into a 36-man early breakaway with rival teams putting the pressure on Tadej Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates to close the gap in what turned into a fascinating tactical battle.

The Australian then came across the top of Marie-Blanque on his own before he raised his arms as he crossed the line after a superb stage in the mountains.

“I was improvising out there and found myself in that group and I enjoyed it,” Hindley said.

“I didn’t really know what to expect it’s my first tour it’s hard to come here with such massive ambition (to win it) already but I want to be competitive and have some form of success and yeah I just won a stage of the Tour de France.”

The stage gave Hindley a 47 second lead over defending champion Jonas Vingegaard, who showed great form in the last climb of the day when he dropped two-time winner Pogacar with a sharp attack to finish the stage in fifth, with Pogacar eighth.

“He was just too fast on the climb. I tried to hold on until the top but he was really, really strong. What an attack,” said Pogacar of Vingegaard’s late burst.

“There’s nothing you can do when someone is stronger than you like that.”

In winning Wednesday’s 162.4km mountain trek from Pau to Laruns to take the lead from Briton Adam Yates, Hindley has marked himself out as a major contender.

Thursday’s sixth stage is an another mountain ride over 144.9km between Tarbes and Cauterets featuring punishing climbs up the Col d’Aspin and Col du Tourmalet.

ABC/AAP