RELAXING in 30-degree Spanish sunshine, western district cyclist Lucas Hamilton has finally had a chance to sit back and reflect on his spectacular grand tour through Italy.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
As Jai Hindley raced his way to the title - the first Australian ever to win the Giro D'Italia - Hamilton found himself leading home the Australian-owned BikeExchange team, 13th overall, just 28 minutes behind the winner.
Despite an infected tooth in the final week, Hamilton got stronger as the three week tour unfolded and now holds out hope for another shot at a major this season, either at the Tour de France or Vuelta a Espana later in the season.
"It was my best grand tour to date, it was great to be around the mark after three long weeks," Hamilton told The Courier.
"In the last week I got a tooth infection which threw me around a bit, but apart from that I was able to string together three consistent weeks which I haven't been able to do that much. There's been a lot of things getting in the way when I've started Grand Tours, but once I got that under control, I definitely felt like I was getting stronger and stronger again."
Yates had been earmarked as the rider to beat after he won the first time trial and took out a breakaway stage win, but a crash put pay to his chances.
"Unfortunately he came off and banged his knee pretty hard," Hamilton said of his teammate.
"He's a tough guy, he did pretty well to continue on. You've got to use the knee a lot on the peddle stroke to ride the bike, so he did a great job to manage it as well as he could for the two-and-a-half weeks he was there.
"Sometimes you need a bit of luck to go your way. There's a lot of kilometres to cover, I don't think anyone ever has a perfect three weeks, it's about managing yourself when things aren't going so well. Simon won the time trial and then won a stage, everyone saw what sort of shape he was in, so it was unfortunate."
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW HERE
For Hamilton, as domestique, it meant having to look after his team leader when he was on a bad day, which ultimately probably cost him a top-10 position in the overall.
For many casual followers, the role is one of the unsung positions in any bike race, but Hamilton is more than happy to play his part.
"It's part and parcel I think, most of the time I'm working for a guy like Simon who I really enjoy working with, we all get our own opportunities at certain times and you hope as you go along, you can develop into that leadership role," he said.
"I enjoy it when I'm in that role, it's never really frustrating for me when you're working for people like Simon, it's pretty easy, If he wins or the team wins, you're always part of it which is pretty satisfying."
Hamilton is waiting to see on whether he will be called up for the Tour de France, something he expects to learn within the next week.
While he is fit and hopeful of a ride, he understands the Vuelta a Espana could be more of an option given the Tour comes so soon after the conclusion of the Giro.
"I don't know if I'm going to the Tour at the moment, there's a few things in the pipeline, I think this week we will finalise what my program is until the end of the year, up until then I'm on hold," he said.
"I guess the Giro was always going to be the biggest goal, unfortunately like most of the peloton, I had a pretty turbulent start to the season, I got COVID, then got bronchitis then had a crash in the Basque country, so it felt like nothing was going right, but was able to get to the Giro with pretty good form.
"I was happy just to get to the Giro in half decent shape and get to the finish line after three weeks, healthy and fit.
"I'd love to get a start in the Tour, there's a few things to work first, hopefully in the coming days we'll make that decision. I'm pretty keen to race, but after a grand tour like that, you need time for your rest and relaxation, because you just can't keep doing that day-in, day-out, you need to take the time away which is what this period right now is for.
"There's obviously a lot racing throughout Europe for the rest of the season, the Vuelta at the end of the season as well, we'll wait and see, I'd imagine I'd most likely head that way if I don't go to the Tour."
Hamilton had some special words for his one-time housemate Hindley.
"It was awesome, I've grown up with Jai, we've raced with each other since we were kids," he said.
"We've always been on the same national teams together, we lived together for years in Italy. I'm really happy for him, he deserves it.
"For him to be the first Australian to win the Giro, it's a little bit surreal, we've grown up together, we've done everything from things like the Canberra tour through to world championships and now grand tours, it's pretty cool.
"We're on different teams, but he's a great mate and so I'm thrilled to see him win, obviously you'd like someone on your own team to pull it off, but if I had to see anyone else do it, it was always going to be Jai."
If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.
