Patience can be a virtue, but Jai Hindley had run out tomorrow by the time he reached the upper reaches of the Passo Fedaia. In the final week of the Giro d'Italia, the Australian had set up base camp with a time bonus advantage over Richard Kalapas in the overall standings. The final attack to the summit was no longer waiting.

The 3,400-km race from Budapest to Sicily and the Alps did not separate Hindley and Karapas. That all changed on stage 20, a 3.4-km mountain road on the summit of the Dolomites.

Born at 2,900 meters above sea level, Carapaz is considered a specialist at this high altitude, and his Ineos team pushed Fedaia hard at the start of the endless straight past Marga Chapela. But with 3.4 km to go, Hindley began to push and felt something. Teammate Leonard Kemna pulled back from the early breakaway and gained more momentum. With 2.8km to the summit, Calapaz's resistance was broken.

After Kemna shook him off, Hindley pressed on alone. The 26-year-old Hindley, who had been virtually tethered to Kalapas since the race left Hungary, now had the freedom of the mountainside; 10 meters soon became 100 meters; 10 meters became 100 meters; 10 meters became 100 meters; 10 meters became 100 meters; 10 meters became 100 meters. Hindley finished the stage in sixth place, 1:28 ahead of a stalled Kalapas. The pink jersey belongs to Hindley, and probably the Giro as well.

"Today was a pretty important day. The last climb was very hard and I knew that if I wanted to do anything in the race, it had to be today, no matter how my legs were feeling.

"And when I heard that Calapaz was struggling a bit, that gave me the motivation I needed to go full throttle to the line."

While Bora-Hansgrohe laid the groundwork on Kolovrat on Friday afternoon, Hindley avoided making a major attack on the final climb of Santuario di Castelmonte on the grounds that the terrain was too gentle. Instead, he waited for stage 20, when the race crossed the Pordoi Pass and climbed the Fedaia Pass, which the Giro calls the death zone of the mountaineering world.

"Cycling now is very calculated. You have to save your bullets for the right moment," Hindley said. Yesterday I tried to shake things up a bit, but it wasn't a great day for me personally. On the last climb, I thought today was the day. I knew if I had the legs there, I could make a difference. Even if I didn't have the legs, I was going to try something today."

Kemna's assistance at the top of the fedayah seemed to encourage Hindley and demoralize Kalapas, but his presence at that critical juncture was more by providence than by design. The German was not initially designated to sneak into the early break, but the team soon saw the advantage of the situation.

"I was running like a Swiss watch," he said. I didn't say anything to Lenny; DS told Lenny that the race was about to blow up and we should wait. He looked around and saw me coming up the road, so he stopped and then he put some pressure on me for a while. I think that helped set the stage for today."

Hindley's patience is not limited to this Giro: two years ago, he took the maglia rosa on the corresponding stage, but lost it in the final time trial in Milan the following afternoon. Hindley's magnanimity, displayed that afternoon in the mixed zone of Piazza del Duomo, masked his disappointment at the near-miss in that unusual, pandemic-delayed Giro.

"I was happy, but to lose the jersey on the last day was completely devastating," Hindley said. "I thought about that moment a lot when I was training."

The 2021 season in particular was ruined by a series of bad luck that tested Job. He was sick in Paris-Nice, crashed in the Tour de Alps, was given antibiotics in the Giro, and was forced to withdraw from the race itself due to saddle soreness.

"Actually, it wasn't saddle soreness, it was next level. It was crazy, not like normal saddle soreness," said Hindley, who was later deemed redundant by the DSM at the Vuelta a España. His affability was intact, but he moved to Bora Hansgrohe last winter with something to prove.

"It was a very frustrating year and I was even told that 2020 might be a fluke. It was very frustrating, but with the support of my entourage, I think we got back to that level this year. It's been a tumultuous year, but I'm happy to be here."

In the mixed zone at the top of Marmolada, an Ecuadorian journalist thanked Hindley and then said wistfully that he had let the whole nation down. Said Hindley, "I'm sorry, but that's how racing is." Meanwhile, a group of Ecuadorian fans called Hindley to the barrier for an almost consolatory selfie, and he complied.

Hindley, who was 1:25 ahead of Kalapas before Sunday's 17.4km time trial in Verona, is almost certain to win this Giro, certainly a healthier buffer than the second place he had against Tao Geoghegan Hart at this point in 2020 but he was cautious about viewing this test as a lap of honor.

"It's nice to have a little lead over two years ago, but it's definitely not going to be an easy time trial," Hindley said. The race isn't over yet."

He has persevered so far. He has one more tomorrow.'