Giro d'Italia winner Jai Hindley's next big cycling dream is to triumph in the Tour de France — but fans might have to wait another year to see him in action.

Australia's newest cycling superstar said he believed he could emulate one of his heroes, Cadel Evans, by becoming the nation's second winner of the sport's greatest race.

"For sure, why not? Never say never," Hindley said, when asked if he could emulate childhood hero Evans' efforts from 2011.

"That would be the ultimate dream, but I'm definitely not going to say it's not possible.

"My biggest plan would be to ride the Tour. This is my fifth year as a pro and I've never ridden the Tour, so that would a huge step forward.

"Not necessarily riding for the general classification, but just riding the Tour would be super special."

However, after the mental and physical toll of winning the three-week Giro, Hindley said he would target the Vuelta a España and the world championships back home in Australia as a priority this year.

"Maybe next year [for the Tour], I don't know," Hindley said.

"That would be pretty awesome."

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The Giro d'Italia champion — who was speaking during his post-race holiday with his girlfriend in Italy — said it felt "incredible" to have joined Evans as only the second Australian to win one of cycling's grand tours.

"Phenomenal. Cadel is a household name in Australia. If you asked the average person on the street who knew nothing about cycling, they'd still know Cadel Evans," he said.

"He's one of the most important and influential Australian cyclists ever, so to achieve something like he did, that is very, very special."

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The 26-year-old added that he had first come to race in Europe in 2011, and went to watch Evans cycle in the Tour in France.

"So, I was actually on the side of the road with my family watching the race live," Hindley said.

"Watching on TV was cool, but being there was really crazy. To look back and know, I was there watching Cadel win the race, was really cool.

"I was also in Belgium when he did the time trial on the second-last day [in Grenoble]. It was a huge moment for Australian cycling. I'll never forget watching that."

Hindley said he'd been overwhelmed by the response he'd received from back home, particularly from his home base around Perth, both during and after the race.

"[It was] pretty overwhelming," he said.

"A super-positive reaction, it feels like I had the full support of the nation.

"I just want to say to all the young kids — especially all the kids in Midland Cycling Club [in Perth] where I started and had big dreams of making it big in the sport — that it is possible to make it if you do all the hard work and you want it enough and you dream about it."

AAP