Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) sprinted to his third stage win of this yr’s Vuelta a España on Wednesday, finishing a hat-trick of victories on stage 17.
The Australian, sporting the inexperienced jersey after Wout van Aert’s (Visma-Lease a Bike) race abandon, powered past Pavel Bittner (dsm-firmenich PostNL) in a moist finale in Santander. Defeated, the Czech rider sat up earlier than the road, leaving Groves to rejoice along with his arms outstretched.
“It was a tricky day. It began dry, after which the vast majority of the end was moist, so it made it fairly harmful on the market,” Groves mentioned.
Within the closing kilometres, a trio of riders sprung out of the peloton to attempt to spoil the sprinters’ closing alternative at this yr’s Vuelta. They had been caught by the oncharging trains with a number of hundred metres to go.
The late assaults, Groves mentioned, had been “not sudden”.
“The remainder is a lot mountains, so the intermediate riders actually should strive on days like at the moment,” he mentioned.
“This was my final alternative at this race, and we now have such a super-motivated workforce that did so nicely at the beginning to regulate the breakaway and ensure the composition was appropriate. To repay them with win quantity three is fairly particular.”
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The highest of the overall classification went unchanged on stage 17, with Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) persevering with to steer the race. Primož Roglič (Purple Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) is second general, 5 seconds behind, with two summit finishes and a time trial nonetheless to come back.
The way it occurred
(Picture credit score: Getty Pictures)
With the race heading in direction of its climbing crescendo, the peloton loved one among their closing flat finishes on stage 17. The day introduced the second shortest street stage of this yr’s race, at 141.5km, with a pair of category-two climbs to contest within the first half.
Early on, a four-rider breakaway established itself, counting: Thibault Guernalec (Arkéa-B&B Accommodations), Thomas Champion (Cofidis), Xabier Isasa (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Jonas Gregaard (Lotto Dstny), the best-placed of the quartet within the general standings at 86th. The group rode their hole out to round 4 minutes, which they held over the 2 climbs.
Inside 10km to go, the leaders’ benefit fell to simply 34 seconds. Behind, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Purple Bull-Bora Hansgrohe led the chase, barreling over sodden roads in direction of Santander.
They secured the catch with 2.5km remaining, when Mauro Schmidt (Jayco-Alula) sprung a flyer on the bunch, adopted carefully by Enzo Leijnse (dsm-firmenich PostNL). Victor Campanaerts (Lotto Dstny) shot out of the peloton in pursuit to affix the duo.
The attackers’ transfer would show short-lived, ultimately. Decided to make their closing alternative rely, the dash trains swallowed the trio up within the closing kilometre, earlier than unleashing their fastmen to the road.
Groves received comfortably by a motorbike size on the Cantabrian shoreline. Bittner got here second, with Vito Braet (Intermarché-Wanty) reaching his finest end of the race in third.
Outcomes
Vuelta a España 2024, stage 17: Arnuero > Santander (141.5km)
1. Kaden Groves (Aus) Alpecin-Deceuninck, in 3:32:14
2. Pavel Bittner (Cze) dsm-firmenich PostNL
3. Vito Braet (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty
4. Pau Miquel (Esp) Equipo Kern Pharma
5. Corbin Sturdy (NZl) Israel-Premier Tech
6. Victor Campanaerts (Bel) Lotto Dstny
7. Edward Planckaert (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck
8. Mathis Le Berre (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Accommodations
9. Arjen Livyns (Bel) Lotto Dstny
10. Xabier Berasategi (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi, all at similar time
Common classification after stage 17
1. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, in 68:41:14
2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Purple Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +5s
3. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar, +1:25
4. Richard Carapaz (Eu) EF Schooling-EasyPost, +1:46
5. Mikel Landa (Esp) Soudal Fast-Step, +2:18
6. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, +3:48
7. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, +3:53
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +4:00
9. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Purple Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +4:27
10. Pavel Sivakov (Fra) UAE Staff Emirates, +5:19
