Kaden Groves opens Giro account, doubles Grand Tour tally

Kaden Groves has made it two Australian wins in three days, winning a crash-marred sprint on stage 5 of the Giro d’Italia.

The Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter from Sunshine Coast Cycling Club doubled his tally of Grand Tour stage victories, adding to his victory at La Vuelta last year.

The miserably wet stage from Atripalda to Salerno was always destined to end in a bunch gallop, but Groves first had to survive several big crashes throughout the day, including one that put him on the wrong side of a split with 7km remaining.

After returning to the front group and surfing the lead-out train of Team DSM, Groves launched his sprint with 250 metres to go. Once he hit the front, he kept the power down to hold off challenges from stage 1 winner Jonathan Milan and former world champion Mads Pedersen. Behind, Mark Cavendish crashed over the line to put a final, awful flourish on a day of carnage.

It was Groves’ first win at the Giro d’Italia, but he’d come close earlier this week, placing third on two occasions.

“I surprised myself today. Everything was going well but I crashed at the corner at 7km to go,” Groves said in the post-race interview.

“Luckily, I put my chain back on fast enough and the groups came back together. It wasn’t very clean, we all got lost, and the guys did the job very early and luckily, I was good enough to be in position on DSM and have the legs to lead out and win.”

Groves said the win had been his goal since the end of last season.

“It’s a dream. This is a race I’ve been focusing on since November, December. I just want to thank the team, everyone involved, my teammates. They believed in me, and after two ‘thirds’ this week, they delivered me to a win.”

Groves’ victory comes two days after Michael Matthews won his tenth career Grand Tour stage with an uphill sprint.

In the general classification, Canberra's Jay Vine lost over one minute after being caught in the crash on the final corner. Jack Haig is Australia’s highest-placed rider overall in 15th place.

Results – Stage 5

Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) (AUS) 4:30:19
Jonathan Milan (Bahrain-Victorious) s.t.
Mads Pedersen (Trek – Segafredo)
Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan Team)
Nicolas Dalla Valle (Team Corratec - Selle Italia)
Mirco Maestri (EOLO-Kometa)
Filippo Fiorelli (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè)
Andrea Vendrame (AG2R Citroën Team)
Michael Matthews (Team Jayco AlUla) (AUS)
Niccolo Bonifazio (Intermarché - Circus – Wanty)

Overall standings – Australian riders

1. Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM) 19:06:03
15. Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious) +2:26
21. Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) +2:47
64. Michael Matthews (Team Jayco AlUla) +14:30
80. Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +18:23
89. Callum Scotson (Team Jayco AlUla) +21:59
93. Sebastian Berwick (Israel-Premier Tech) +23:58
104. Rohan Dennis (Jumbo-Visma) +28:05
135. Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) +37:15
137. Michael Hepburn (Team Jayco AlUla) +39:40

Photo: Giro d'Italia