Kaden Groves outsprinted Wout van Aert to win stage 14 of the Vuelta a España on Saturday, the Australian’s second victory of this 12 months’s race as his compatriot Ben O’Connor maintained his general lead.
The longest stage of the race, a 200.5km journey from Villafranca Del Bierzo to Villablino, got here all the way down to a bunch dash, and it was the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider who held off Van Aert who was in search of his fourth stage win.
New Zealand’s Corbin Robust (Israel-Premier Tech) got here in third, making it a repeat of stage two, when Groves had edged out Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) for the win.
“I did not truly count on in the present day to be a dash because it was however Visma managed it and to have a man-on-man dash towards Wout is fairly superior,” Groves stated.
“At this time I did not hesitate, I believe I did a extremely good dash. It felt like a drag race towards Wout however it was nice to beat him.”
O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) retained the crimson chief’s jersey, with a spot of 1 minute 21 seconds over Slovenia’s Primož Roglič (Pink Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
Roglic had a mechanical concern within the closing levels, needing to take the bike of teammate Daniel Martinez, however he managed to make it again in time for the end.
An early six-rider breakaway group was saved underneath management by the peloton, they usually had been reeled in on the ultimate climb to arrange the dash end.
Sunday’s stage 15 is a 143km journey from Infiesto to Valgrande-Pajares.
Reuters
