In the basement of the Arena Roma in Verona, Jai Hindley clutched his Trofeo Senza Fine as he navigated the narrow mixed zone. The Giro d'Italia winner usually keeps his hardware to one side while he handles his media duties, but Hindley had already taken this prize off his hands at the last minute. It doesn't hurt to check.

Two years ago at the fall Giro, Hindley also wore a pink skinsuit to the final time trial, but the gap to Tao Geoghegan Hart was almost as small. However, his lead over Tao Geoghegan Hart was so slight as to be almost nonexistent. By the time he arrived at Piazza del Duomo, dusk had already softly fallen over the city of Milan, and the Maria Rosa on his back was no longer his.

This time, while the general situation was well known, the exact circumstances were quite different. On Sunday, Hindley once again defended the pink jersey against the Ineos riders. He allowed himself a lead of just 7 seconds over the 17.4 km course and entered the arena as the first Australian to win the Giro.

"I guess the experience of two years ago helped ease my nerves a bit; I didn't want a repeat of 2020," Hindley said in the press room after the podium ceremony.

"It was brutal to be honest, coming so close to winning and then losing it on the last day. It took me a long time to get over that. I know for a lot of people it was a surprise that I was in that situation, but to lose the race on the last day really hurt. I thought about that day the whole time I was training. It was a really big motivation for me."

There was an air of calm at the finish of the 2020 Giro, which was postponed due to the pandemic. That afternoon, shutters were gradually lowered across Italy in preparation for Europe's new blockade regime, and Piazza del Duomo was empty for the finale.

Everything was different here, from the crowd in the Arena singing along to Rino Gaetano to Hindley's parents rushing in from Perth. It was the first time they had seen their son since the beginning of 2020.

"Last year was quite an unlucky year, and on top of that we couldn't go back to Australia because of Perth's COVID regulations. It's really hard to be on a bike and not be able to see your family.

"After the Sun Tour in February 2020, I went back to Perth for less than 24 hours to see my family, then packed my bags and came to Europe. I had no idea it would be my last trip home for a couple of years. Getting into the country was almost impossible. I think I booked three flights, all of which were cancelled. It was pretty tough mentally to deal with that."

And again, such demands have always been placed on Australian cyclists coming to Europe, from Hubert Opperman to the Foreign Legion in the 1980s, from Cadel Evans to the current riders. Hindley's cycling journey is the latest in a grand tradition.

"I think you will find that many of the Aussie pros are quite resilient mentally. Last year I really got knocked down a lot, both on and off the bike. It was a tough year, but I think I grew because of it," said Hindley, who described his friend and former teammate Rob Power as an "inspiration" as a rider.

"A lot of people take for granted how difficult riding is. You can't just hop on a Ryanair plane for the weekend and fly home for 50 euros or something. And when you add Covid to the mix, it's really hard. "

This year's Giro will be remembered primarily for the last 3.5km climb on the summit of Passo Fedaia on the final day. After three weeks of stalemate with Calapaz, Hindley finally broke away from the Ecuadorian at the bottom of the Marmolada cliff. Winning the Giro was not only strength but also strategy, and Hindley showed patience in the final week.

"I knew I only had one bullet, and if I fired it, I had to take care of it," Hindley said.

"Grand Tour racing is unique in that you have to be very calculating if you want to win the overall. If you expend too much energy on one day, it will pay off the next day or two. It wasn't planned from the beginning to run the whole race on the last day.

Hindley became Kalapas' biggest rival when he won stage 9 at Brockhaus, fending off the Olympic champion's attack in a breathless stage to Turin a week later. From there, Hindley's smooth pedaling kept him out of trouble on the climbs. The only time he suffered was on stage 18, when he suffered a puncture in the last 3km of Treviso.

"I think the puncture in Treviso was a pretty scary moment. 'I didn't know I was at the 3km mark, so when I got the flat tire I was really on full throttle. I looked up and saw the 2km banner in front of me and my heart rate dropped a little bit. That was the scariest moment."

Hindley admitted that being on the podium at the 2020 Giro changed his cycling life. He said, "It really opened my mind to what I could do as a professional cyclist.

Winning here opens up more possibilities for the 26-year-old, but his program for the rest of the season is still up in the air. A challenge to the Vuelta a España is an obvious possibility. So is participation in the World Championships on Wollongong's home roads.

"I really want to be on that team," he said. But after today, I'm going to relax a little bit. But after today, I'm going to relax a little bit.'

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