Jai Hindley postpones possible 2027 decision — and Visma | Lease a Bike — for now

Visma | Lease a Bike are currently racing against Jai Hindley at the Giro d’Italia, but behind the scenes there have been rumours for some time about a possible move by the Australian to the Dutch team. Irish cycling journalist Daniel Benson, known for his strong transfer contacts, has now provided the latest update on his Substack.

According to Benson, Visma | Lease a Bike were also interested in Andrew “AJ” August of Netcompany INEOS, but the American is expected to extend his contract with the British team. August, still only 20 years old, has already been with the squad for three years, but this season he has truly broken through with stage wins at the Tour of the Basque Country and the Tour of Valencia.

As for Hindley, Benson says there has been no real movement yet, with the 30-year-old Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider first wanting to focus on the Giro. “We reported around a month ago that Visma-Lease a Bike had interest in him, and that remains the case,” the report states.

“You can reasonably assume that Hindley is using the Giro d’Italia to set his price on the transfer market, and he is confident that he will come away with a result,” Benson explains.

“He is probably the best GC rider currently available, so unless a crazy offer lands on his doormat on the rest day, he will probably wait.” Visma | Lease a Bike see Hindley as a potentially ideal replacement for Simon Yates and Cian Uijtdebroeks, who both left the team rather suddenly last year.

Richard Plugge could not give Benson any major update either. “It is the same as when we spoke a few months ago. We are still looking and a lot of riders are calling us, so we are having a lot of conversations. It has been more or less the same for a few months. You know what kind of rider we are looking for,” said the CEO of the Dutch team.