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Alpecin-Deceuninck controlled the finale perfectly, setting up Kaden Groves for an epic sprint duel with Wout van Aert (Visma Lease-a-Bike) which the Australian won with a well-timed bike throw for his second victory of the Vuelta a Espana, Corbin Strong (Israel Premier-Tech) rounding out the podium.
Despite there being over two thousand vertical metres of climbing preceding the finish, Groves handled it well in the wheels, with Visma Lease-a-Bike doing the bulk of the work all day in an effort to give van Aert the chance to sprint for the win.
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La Vuelta 2024
series • cycling
series • cycling
It meant Groves and his team could bide their time with fresh legs to take charge in the final kilometres, with van Aert still getting very close but conceding victory this time to his sprint rival.
“It feels really good," Groves said after the stage.
"I didn’t expect it to be a sprint as it was but Jumbo controlled it and to have a one on one sprint against Wout [van Aert] is awesome.
"The climb was quite okay in the wheels. It might have been a bit hard if they start attacking but thankfully Jumbo rode a really hard pace, no one attacked and my teammates also got over with me so we could control the finish. The team did a great job."
Ben O'Connor (AG2R Decathlon La Mondiale) finished the day safely in the red jersey, but will need to be ready to defend his now somewhat slender advantage in tonight's brutal finale to the summit of the Cuitu Negru.
"It’s pretty epic," O'Connor said of the climb.
"It’s pretty hard. We’ve done some hard climbs and this will be another one to the list.”
