On the steep climb up Kolovrat, things were getting ready to go. Jai Hindley's Beulah Hansgrohe team had consolidated the lead of the pink jersey group. Richard Kalapas, suddenly short of an Ineos teammate, was on the alert on Hindley's rear wheel. The stalemated Giro d'Italia was about to open. But not yet.

The forsting of Beulah Hansgrohe kept going until the uphill climb as the race headed for the Italian-Slovenian border.

The pink jersey group swelled again to about 25 riders, with Ineos Guard of Calapaz at the front. As the climb began, the gradient and pace again chipped away at the group, but it was still not enough to separate Hindley and Calapaz in this Giro.

Kalapas accelerated strongly with 2km to go, but Hindley reacted quickly. Hindley set up his own dig, but Kalapas smartly dodged it. A third man, Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious), briefly slipped away with 1km to go, but the two leaders smoothly bridged the gap. Kalapas won the sprint for stage 8, with Hindley (and Landa) close behind.

Another stalemate. With two days left in the Giro, Hindley is still in second place overall by three seconds. The Maria Rosa in Calapaz is as close and as far away as it was in the beginning. They will have to start all over again on Saturday in Marmolada. If that doesn't settle it, a penalty shootout with a 17.4 km time trial awaits in Verona on the final day.

"It was another pretty hard day, but everyone rode really well. We were looking for our chances, but things didn't go our way."

"On the last climb, we knew it was going to be a punchy finish. But yeah, ...... I still tried, but it was a difficult finish."

Hindley's Directeur Sportif Enrico Gasparotto, steering in his first Giro, showed he is already a formidable tactician as he led the team onslaught on stage 14, the most breathtaking race in Turin. When the Friuli native revealed on Thursday that he had scouted this stage to neighboring Slovenia as far back as last November, it seemed clear that Bora Hansgrohe would try to replicate his strength in Piedmont last weekend.

Sure enough, Beulah Hansgrohe took the reins from afar, further increasing the prospects of tormenting Carapas. On the terribly steep climb of Kolovrat, Ben Zwiehoff and Leonard Kemna further refined the culling, but Bora-Hansgrohe never succeeded in isolating Kalapas. However, Beulah Hansgrohe never succeeded in isolating Kalapas.

"It wasn't an ideal stage to swing the hammer down, but I knew the second last climb would be really steep and the descent would be really technical and tricky. I just wanted to stay at the front and stay out of trouble."

Bonus seconds were already gone, as the early break had advanced more than 10 minutes. So the onus was on Hindley to try to get out of Calapaz on the 7 km climb to the finish, but there was nothing he could do about it. Each rider dealt similar blows, but no fatal damage was left behind. The slight time difference remained the same, and the boxing judges would have been forced to score the round as a draw.

"I let the gap get a little too wide, but my original plan for today was not to chase the break anyway. I just dialed it up along the way," Hindley said.

"It's going to be a tough day tomorrow, and I think it's going to be a big decider. "

On Saturday, the final road stage of the Giro crosses San Pellegrino, Pordoi, and the massive Fedaia Passo, which returns to the race after an 11-year absence. In principle, the climb below the Marmolada should be tough enough to decide the issue, but nothing has ever separated Hindley and Calapaz in the mountains of this Giro.

Hindley, whose pedigree makes him vulnerable to time trials, will need to at least regain time in the Dolomites if he is to win the short final test in Verona. The Australian, of course, knows the heartache of starting the last time trial in the pink and missing out on victory at the last minute. Gasparotto is confident in the time trial, but the onus is on Hindley to make a final push on stage 20.

"Definitely, that's a dream scenario. We want to set a good time tomorrow and secure a buffer before the TT," Hindley said. 'It won't be easy, but I'll work hard for it.'

.