It hasn't exactly been a season to write home about for Kaden Groves so far, not given he had to skip the Spring Classics entirely due to the aftermath of a crash at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but now he'll be pinning on a number again at the Giro d'Italia and planning to turn that around straight away.
"I've been at altitude with the team and I’ve arrived here in Bulgaria at a good level. I feel happy, ready to go, and we have a strong team around me," said Groves in a team statement "That confidence translates immediately into ambition.
"We already look at stage 1 as a possibility for a bunch sprint. So we go for it straight away."
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The Australian already has two Giro d'Italia stage wins to his name, one taken in 2025 and the other in 2023, and while it may not have been ideal to have such a long to have a knee issue on the run in, the team emphasised that it was not an overuse problem. Rather, it was caused purely by the knock to the patella in Omloop that developed into a friction injury, therefore there was reason to have confidence in Groves' recovery and ability to jump back in to the Giro.
"We come here with one clear goal: to go for stage wins," said sports director Gianni Meersman. "And it’s no secret that Kaden is our best weapon for that. He has already won stages in all three Grand Tours and brings a lot of experience. So he’s our main card to play.”
Although he did add that they would have to ascertain exactly how Groves initially responds to the lack of "race rhythm", with the rider who has only had six full days of racing this season and no podium places lining up against a sprint field that includes riders like Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) who took four Giro stage wins across 2023 and 2024 plus has already clocked up six victories so far this season.
"I think Jonathan Milan is the main favourite for both stages and the ciclamino jersey," Groves said. "He already has the experience here. But with guys like [Paul] Magnier, [Tobias Lund] Andresen, [Arnaud] De Lie and some others, including myself, it’s going to be a really strong sprint field."
Groves will be navigating the chaotic finales as he chases stage victories with some familiar Giro lead out riders, such as Edward Planckaert and Jensen Plowright, plus some new additions such as Jonas Geens who is making his Grand tour debut.
"Within the sprint setup, the roles are clearly defined. Edward Planckaert will be Groves’ final lead-out rider, with Jonas Geens and Jensen Plowright playing key roles in the build-up. In the final kilometres before the sprint, Johan Price-Pejtersen and Tobias Bayer will be crucial in positioning the team”, said Meersman.
"Our Italian riders Francesco Busatto and Luca Vergallito will focus more on the more hilly stages, looking for opportunities from early breakaways."
Alpecin-Premier Tech has indicated that the sprinter's jersey isn't high on the priority list, with stage wins the focus, but that doesn't mean Groves, who has only failed to finish one of the seven Grand Tour's he has done, plans to leave early to conserve for the Tour de France which is the expectation for some sprint rivals.
"After the Giro, normally I’ll go to the Tour. But first, we focus fully on this race.”
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