photo credits @ La Vuelta
Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) claimed stage 2 of the Vuelta a España today, beating Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) in a sprint finale in Ourém, earning the Australian rider the day’s honors while his Belgian rival moved into the overall race lead.
Van Aert’s teammate Edoardo Affini led out the sprint during the final kilometer before van Aert opened up his sprint, but Groves clung to his wheel, surging past him during the waning moments to snatch the victory.
Meanwhile, Corbin Strong (Israel Premier Tech) took third ahead of Miquel Pau (Kern Pharma) and Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Dstny).
Race Highlights
Several riders were involved in a crash inside the last 4km with Ineos Grenadiers’ Josh Tarling lucky to avoid serious injury as he crashed into a wall. All of them managed to reach the finish line and did not lose time.
The race became animated on the descent of a late climb with riders topping 80kph on the speed gun as they hurtled towards the finish. In the bunch sprint, Van Aert made the first move but Groves timed his effort superbly to take the win.
It was the Australian’s fifth career stage win at the Vuelta.
“It’s a really nice way to start this Vuelta. It’s been a hard year for myself, not having a win yet, but I came here super motivated to change that, and I’ve got to thank my team for a really strong ride today,” Groves said.
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