Kaden Groves sprints to stage 11 victory at Vuelta a España

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Kaden Groves gave BikeExchange-Jayco a morale-boosting sprint win in Cabo de Gata for the Vuelta a España, helping the Australian team overcome the pre-stage loss of team leader Simon Yates to COVID-19.

Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished second and Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was third on each side of Groves.

BikeExchange-Jayco had four riders on the front with four kilometres to go after a slow stage into a headwind. They then kept Groves ahead of the fight for position on the long finishing straight along the coast.

When John Degenkolb (Team DSM), Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates) surged and others ahead, Groves waited and then used their slipstreams before launching his own sprint to hit the line first.

Race leader Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) finished safely in the peloton and so kept his red jersey. He is 2:41 ahead of Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) and 3:03 ahead of Enric Mas (Movistar).

However, Evenepoel lost teammate and World Champion Julian Alaphilippe after the Frenchman crashed with 65km to go. He hurt his shoulder and was taken to hospital.

“It definitely makes it a less beautiful day than we expected,” Evenepoel said.

“I don’t know exactly what happened or what the results are but it’s definitely a big loss for our team, especially on such a quiet stage. It’s a pity. I hope he does well and is not suffering too much. All the best Loulou.

“For sure Julian was doing very well in the last few days but we’re not the only team losing guys. I’ve got confidence in my other teammates that they’ll do well in the coming weeks.”

It was Groves’ first Grand Tour spirit win after winning stages at the Ciclista a Catalunya and the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey. He was disappointed to lose Yates to COVID-19 but proud to have won.

"It feels fantastic,” Groves said. “This morning with the news of Simon [Yates] going positive for COVID-19 all the boys were disappointed. It's the best way to bounce back after such bad news. I'm really happy to celebrate but I also wish he was here because he's part of this team.”

Groves detailed every moment of the sprint.

"I've got to thank all the guys: Luke Durbridge riding all day, then we set up early for this wind. We thought there'd be crosswind earlier but there was nothing until the final 4km where we were first team. The guys did a perfect job keeping me in front and fresh,” he explained.

"Maybe with about 50-100 metres to go I was fresher than the other guys who had to do efforts from behind to move up. Thankfully I was in the right position and got the gap to step out and do my sprint.”

There are few other sprint opportunities in this year’s Vuelta but Groves will be confident of his chances.

"Being my first Grand Tour win for sure it takes the cake. I'm super happy to get a win here already and there's still more stages to come," he said.

How it unfolded

Stage 11 stage was mostly flat affair as it rolled along the coast of southwestern Spain in the Murcia and Almería regions, offering a very different day of racing to the recent summit finishes at Colláu Fancuaya and Les Praeres, and Tuesday’s time trial to Alicante.

The big news before the start was the growing number of COVID-19 positive cases in the peloton. Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) were suddenly out of the race after testing positive. Kern Pharma also lost three riders due to the virus, with Roger Adrià, Héctor Carretero, and Pau Miquel leaving the race. A total of 21 riders have now been forced out of the Vuelta due to COVID-19.

It is unknown if teams have also suffered cases amongst their staff or in the wider race bubble that includes officials and race organisation staff. There were 151 riders remaining in the peloton.

Yates and Sivakov lay in fifth and ninth overall, respectively, and so sparked a debate about protecting riders and even the impact of COVID-19 on the WorldTour relegation battle.

"I hope the organisation can bring a bit more safety into the finish because yesterday was quite like a nightmare," Evenepoel said, indicating the Sierra Nevada summit finish as one of the most potentially risky upcoming stages.

"I can imagine all the people next to the road. I think we might have to make a statement and try to keep the race as safe as possible," he said.

With a stiff head wind blowing against the direction of the stage, there was little desire to go on the attack and try to break the control of the sprint teams. However, Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH), Vojtech Repa (Kern Pharma) and Joan Bou (Euskaltel-Euskadi) went on the attack. The peloton let them go and they soon opened a four-minute gap.

Alpecin-Deceuninck, Trek-Segafredo, and Arkéa-Samsic controlled the peloton and gradually reeled in the attackers, occasionally forming an echelon on their front before realising there was no desire and no real crosswinds to split the peloton. The gap was at 2:50 after 50km and fell further as the race headed south, via beachfront holiday resorts and rugged, rocky coastlines.

The riders raced at an average speed of just over 39 kph for the opening 90km, slower than the slowest expected pace for the stage as they battled into the hot headwind.

Quiet until the crashes

Bol, Repa and Bou fought on courageously, as did the peloton in their pursuit. Tension only rose in the final 65km when first Repa slipped out on a corner and was forced to chase back on.

Then Alaphilippe also crashed on a corner. He landed hard on his right shoulder and was unable to race on. His shoulder was put in a sling and he was taken to hospital.

Alaphilippe has endured repeated crashes and bad luck in 2022. He suffered two broken ribs, a broken scapula and a punctured lung in the mass crash at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, which forced him to miss the Tour de France. He was then struck by COVID-19 in late July. His abandon leaves Evenepoel with just five QuickStep-AlphaVinyl teammates to support him for the remainder of the Vuelta.

The three attackers had less than a minute with 50km to go and then Bol attacked alone to further disrupt the move.

Bou and Repa were soon caught by the peloton but Bol pushed on alone. He had a lead of a minute for a while but was gradually pulled back as the sprint teams and GC riders began to focus and fight for position.

Bol was swept up with 26km to go, as the peloton prepared mentally and physically for the late intermediate sprint and then the left turn into the coastal cross winds. The sprint came with 10km to go but there was little aggression and Mads Pedersen was able to accelerate briefly to score 20 points and take three bonus seconds.

The left turn came soon after the pace rose dramatically on the straight, long road through the fields and plastic greenhouses bulging with vegetables.

BikeExchange-Jayco filled the right side of the road, with Ineos Grenadiers on the left to protect their GC riders, while QuickStep-AlphaVinyl and Evenepoel stayed down the middle.

The sprint leadout started after the turn onto the beachfront finish with four kilometres to go. The breeze came off the Mediterranean sea from the riders’ right, with BikeExchange on the protected left along the salt plains.

Lawson Craddock used his time trial ability to ride a fast kilometre with three to go and then Dylan van Baarle hit the front for Ineos Grenadiers until two kilometres to go.

Everyone else waited for the sprint, with Pedersen moving up to Groves' wheel after some team assistance. Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was the first to open up and then Degenkolb and Molano also went early, with Daniel McLay (Arkéa-Samsic) on their wheel.

However, it was too much and too early. Groves waited, took advantage of the accelerating slipstreams and then opened up his own sprint along the right. He had the speed to pass everyone ahead of him and hold off a late charge by Van Poppel and Merlier.

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