Cadel Evans learned from cycling news on Tuesday that Jai Hindley first saw the Tour de France "live" in 2011, when Evans himself won the race. That knowledge made the elder Australian's desire to "pass the Grand Tour torch" to his young compatriot Hindley, who took the overall win at the Giro d'Italia last Sunday, all the more special. [Cadel Evans, who won the Giro d'Italia in 2002 and again in 2010 and 2014, told Cycling News. [Cadel Evans, who won the Giro d'Italia in 2002 and again in 2010 and 2014, told Cyclingnews, "I'm very happy to be here, and I'm looking forward to the Giro d'Italia.

"And as an aside, in 2022, I was jumping on the couch like he did in Fedaia. It's a historic event for us (Australians)."

The only downside to Evans' impulsive drive to the Giro finish was that he could not enter the Verona stadium to see Hindley don the final maglia rosa and congratulate him personally. But he was undoubtedly there.

"Taking a one-year-old and a three-year-old to a race is not ideal," he noted.

"But being a father is my top priority right now.

Faced with Hindley's hope that he might one day follow Evans' lead and win the Tour de France (open in new tab), Evans said, "Winning the Giro is a great start and I'm interested to see where he goes from here."

"The Tour de France is more famous in Australia, more international, and it would be a logical step.

"But the Tour is a different race. The Giro course is physically harder and, as the Giro organizers have been overjoyed to see in the last few years, it is increasingly international, so the level of racing is higher."

"The Tour is another level, but in his words, "never say never."

Evans noted, however, that Hindley will no longer fly under the radar in the future. As did Bora Hansgrohe and Jai." So is Beulah Hansgrohe, and so is Jai.

Evans said that one thing in Hindley's favor with regard to the Tour is his ability to withstand pressure. In the final week of the Giro, he was only three seconds behind race leader Richard Kalapas (Ineos Grenadiers).

Instead of rushing to attack too early, as Kalapas made a mistake on the Turin stage, Hindley stepped up on the final second stage and waited for the right moment.

In the victorious Tour de France, Evans claimed an early victory in Mule de Bretagne and said that Bora-Hansgrohe's Leonard Chemna's first week stage win helped Hindley's GC contention because it took some of the pressure off him.

"First of all, it would have given the team confidence. It takes the pressure off and you feel like you can "just run now."

"It's a great feeling to be able to do that," he said.

Even if Calapaz took the lead in the Turin stage, Evans said it was a turning point for Hindley, given that Bora Hansgrohe had isolated the new Maria Rosa. 'They hurt the Ineos. They believed in their chances.

"Certainly, the way he and his team raced was exceptional. I'm happy for the Australian to win the Giro, but I'm even happier to have found a good team that has worked consistently hard for so long and backed him perfectly throughout the Giro." The "way Kemna ran in the fedaia" - dropping back to help Hindley - was great.

"So all the elements are there. But I'm happy to see a winner who believed in himself, worked hard all the time, and kept fighting for himself despite such a rough year. A lot of people had forgotten about him."

But after Sunday's success, that probably won't happen again.