"Never say never. It's the ultimate dream. I'm not going to say it's absolutely impossible."
It has been less than 48 hours since Hindley took the decisive final pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia. But if the Tour is part of his long-term plan, Hindley knows it is a gradual process, one that will not happen in 2022.
Rather, this year he will do the Vuelta a España and, hopefully, the World Championships. After that, as the Bora-Hansgrohe racer said at a press conference on Tuesday, he hopes to make his Tour debut, perhaps in 2023.
"I've been a professional for five years, it would be a big step. I don't necessarily have to go for GC, but it would be great to just get it done," he recalled.
"Maybe next year."
As Hindley revealed on Tuesday, the 26-year-old's first "live" Grand Tour was in France in 2011. That was when Cadel Evans won his first Grand Boucle in Australia.
"It was my first time coming to Europe to race too," he said. I was mostly in Belgium, but I went to see the mountain stages of the Tour. I was on the side of the road with family and friends and it was really crazy to see it in person.
"I knew it was Cadel's year to win. I was in Belgium when he won. I was in Belgium when he did his TT on the second last day. I will never forget that moment."
Along with Evans, Hindley became the only two Australian Grand Tour winners. 'It's phenomenal, too,' he said. Cadel is a household name, and if you ask the average person who knows nothing about cycling if they know Cadel Evans, they'll probably say yes."
"He is one of the most important and influential Australian cyclists ever. It's very special.
Hindley admits to being in the middle of a whirlwind of interviews and media events since his victory, but he tries to stay grounded and stick to what he has planned in advance.
The first thing on the Giro winner's agenda was an already-planned vacation in Italy, but he said it was "very special" to be reunited with his parents in Verona this weekend after a 2.5-year gap due to COVID restrictions.
"It's a very special time for me, especially considering that everything went wrong for Hindley last season in terms of racing," he said.
"It was really the icing on the cake. The team arranged for my parents to fly me out. I had arranged for them to come on vacation in mid-June, and normally I wouldn't see them until then. But of course I couldn't say no, and it was an incredible gesture from the team and the sponsors.
"Not seeing my parents for two and a half years is ridiculous and crazy. Last year was a really tough, roller coaster of a season.
"But they kept supporting me and they are my biggest fans. So to have them there at the finish was a real dream come true. My mom has to go back to work. But I think it was one of the best days I've ever had."
Hindley also emphasized his gratitude for the support from his Midland club and all the Australian fans, telling the club's young riders, "You should dream big. He was also asked about what the success of himself and his hometown rider from Perth, Western Australia, Ben O'Connor (AG2R-Citroen) at last year's Tour means for cycling in Australia in general.
"Cycling is certainly not the biggest sport in Australia, but it is definitely getting bigger and bigger. When Ben and I first started riding together, we usually start as young teenagers, but he came along a few years later.
"It's great to see someone from the same city as you making it to the big stage, and there are actually a lot of them. If you look at the number of Aussie pros today, it's probably the most ever.
"So I want people to pay attention to Aussies. It's unusual to have so many Aussie pros, and there are certainly big things going on."
The race itself was the first Giro win for both Australia and Bora-Hansgrohe, but to ensure it, Hindley noted that the team had worked very cohesively from the beginning and in advance on team building.
The stage to Turin, where Beulah Hansgrohe led the race to Ineos Grenadier, and the stage at Fedaia, where Leonard Kamuna dropped back to give Hindley an important platform for his final attack, were probably teammate interventions to his advantage Those were the two moments that got the most attention. But there were many others.
While other teams have not handled the "trident" of GC leaders well in recent years, Hindley said that starting the race with three leaders, himself, Emmanuel Buchmann, and Wilco Kelderman, was nothing but positive for him personally He said that it was nothing but positive for him personally. Because the communication between the three of us was good from the start, and we had 100% support from the other two as our leadership opportunities steadily grew.
"It's not always easy to manage, but I think the team pulled it off. Not having big egos and being great teammates also depends a lot on how the players are," Hindley said. [For example, when Wilco had a mechanical problem and lost his GC chance, of course he was devastated. He and Emu [Buchman] were on fire.
"It's not every day you get a guy like Kelderman, who has been on the podium in a Grand Tour, to be the domestique for you. They are great teammates."
Overall, Bora-Hansgrohe's lineup was on point from day one to the final day, and Hindley said the German team never felt outmatched, despite facing a team like Ineos Grenadier, which had won the Giro three times in the past four years.
"We really raced some days," Hindley said. We were confident and we knew we were a strong team."
As has been pointed out before, the really bad moment came when Hindley suffered a puncture and wheel change late in the third week and initially thought he might lose the race. However, even though he had passed the 3 km banner with 3 km to go at that point and thus lost no time, that moment of potential crisis was also the moment when the stress level began to rise as Hindley realized that he was one step closer to winning pink and that everything could easily fall apart!
"That was the only day that was really crazy. Everything else was under control and we had a really calculated race.
"I only made big moves when it really mattered, and I didn't plan to leave everything to the mountains on the last day [to go for the lead].
"I knew some of the guys, but the team didn't scout that stage. But we looked at the profile in detail and knew that the last 5km would be brutal. So I persevered, held on, and moved on. "
But Hindley's victory is not just an Australian story, of course. For Bora-Hansgrohe, too, the step up was a big one, and as Hindley says, the transformation from a team focused on the classics to one that can take on the Grand Tours is not something that can be done overnight. But the gamble paid off from the start.
"It was a big risk for them and a lot of pressure and stress to prove they could be a GC team," Hindley said. But we proved it and are definitely a team to watch in the future."
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