Cycling: What does the future hold for Jai Hindley?

The decision by Bora Hansgrohe to sign Slovenian superstar Primoz Roglic means that Jai Hindley’s role in the team is looking a lot different all of a sudden.

It has been a massive few weeks in the world of cycling following talk of a merger between Jumbo Visma and Soudal Quickstep, while transfer speculation has also been rampant.

The proposed merger is off, but Jumbo Visma have been happy to let one of their superstars, Roglic, move on.

There had been talk of a move to Ineos Grenadiers, but the Giro d’Italia winner has ended up with Bora, signing a deal for the next two years.

And looking from the outside that bit of business may be great for Bora, but not necessarily for Hindley.

Let’s take a look at what the future could look like for Australia’s number one cyclist.

Grand Tour contender

Jai Hindley is an outstanding General Classification rider as his victory in the 2021 Giro d’Italia proved to the world of cycling.

Nothing changes on that front. There are three grand tours in the season and Hindley could get the opportunity to be team leader at either the Giro or Vuelta Espana.

But that will not be the case at the Tour de France, with Roglic certain to lead the team as long as he is healthy and ready to race.

There will also be plenty of other opportunities for Hindley throughout a long hard season, but his ambitions of winning the Tour de France have suffered a blow.

Tour de France chances

Hindley was Bora’s leader heading into the 2023 Tour de France and he was keen to make the step up following his success at the Giro in 2022.

However, despite winning a stage early on and holding the yellow jersey for a day, he could not stay the pace and slipped down the General Classification to finish seventh.

A top-10 finish, a stage win and holding the yellow jersey at the Tour de France is still a huge achievement for the Australian.

However, maybe it proved that at this moment, he is not quite ready to win the Tour de France.

There is no shame in that considering the Tour is being dominated by Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar, two of the greatest to have ever ridden a bike.

But Bora have realised this as well and, as soon as the possibility of signing Roglic came about, they moved quickly to get it done.

Roglic is one of the few riders capable of giving Vingegaard and Pogacar a run for their money at the Tour de France.

It is still a tall order as Roglic is 7.00 to win the 2024 Tour de France, compared to Vingegaard at 1.66 and Pogacar at 3.25.

As for Hindley, he is priced at 51.00 to pull off a huge shock.

Hindley the 'super domestique'

All is not lost for Hindley at the Tour de France. He will still have a huge role to play for Bora Hansgrohe and Roglic in his pursuit of glory.

It is unlikely that Bora will go with co-leaders as Roglic will have signed on the proviso the team for the Tour de France will be all about supporting him.

Hindley can play a support role safe in the knowledge that should anything happen to Roglic during the race, he will become the team’s GC rider.

Despite Hindley slipping down the pecking order at Bora, it is still an exciting time for him and the team.

Having Roglic on board can only be a positive for everyone and Hindley has a lot to look forward to over the next couple of seasons.

He is still only 27, Roglic is 32, so there is still plenty of time for him to achieve his dream of winning the Tour de France.