Jai Hindley became the first Australian to win the Giro d'Italia at the stage 21 time trial in Verona ©Getty Images

Jai Hindley has become the first Australian to win the Giro d'Italia, with Richard Carapaz forced to settle for second and Mikel Landa rounding off the podium.

Bora-Hansgrohe rider Hindley put himself on the brink of Australian cycling history yesterday, dropping Ecuador's Olympic road race champion Carapaz in a dramatic finish on the Marmolada to claim the pink jersey and give himself a one minute and 25 second advantage going into the 17.4 kilometres time trial in Verona.

Hindley led the general classification going into the final day time trial at the Giro two years ago, although on that occasion sat on the same time as Britain's Tao Geoghegan Hart, who went on to win the race.

However, with a significant lead this time around, he was not to be denied a maiden overall Grand Tour victory.

Hindley delivered a steady performance which avoided any difficulties in the time trial, clocking 23min 55sec to place 15th on the 21st and final stage.

He completed the Giro in 86 hours 31min 14sec.

Carapaz, racing for Ineos Grenadiers, was able to trim seven seconds off Hindley's lead as a 23:48 effort secured 10th place.

However, there was to be no second Giro crown for the 2019 winner, with his overall time 1:18 down on Hindley's.

Landa of Spain and Bahrain Victorious made sure of third place overall by completing the time trial in 25:28, which meant he finished 3:24 off the pace overall.

The retiring Vincenzo Nibali of Italy and Astana Qazaqstan Team finished what is set to be his final Giro in fourth place, trailing Hindley by 9:02.

Nibali is one of only seven cyclists in history who have won all three Grand Tours.

Spain's Pello Bilbao of Bahrain Victorious completed the top five, finishing a further 12 seconds back.

The time trial was won by Team BikeExchange-Jayco's Italian rider Matteo Sobrero in an impressive time of 22:24, which was 23 seconds clear of The Netherlands and Team DSM's Thymen Arensman.

Arensman's compatriot Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Fenix completed the top three in 23:04.

The Giro points classification was won by France's Arnaud Démare of Groupama-FDJ, with Dutch rider Koen Bouwman of Team Jumbo-Visma taking the blue jersey for the mountains classification.

Spain's Juan Pedro López of Trek-Segafredo was the best young rider.