‘Hopefully it’s not the last’:  Kaden Groves wins stage 4 of  La Vuelta  

Australian sprinter Kaden Groves is looking ahead to more success at this year’s La Vuelta after winning stage 4 – his third ever Grand Tour victory.

The Queenslander from Alpecin-Deceuninck mastered a tricky finale in the streets of Tarragona to win the 185km stage, which departed in Andorra la Vella.

Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates) tried to anticipate the uphill sprint but Groves followed him and passed him on the line.

But it wasn’t without drama leading into the finishing straight.

"It was a super tight corner. Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) and my teammate Robbe Ghys ended up going wide and crashing and we had a big gap with Sebastian Molano and myself. Sebastian went from the bottom, with 350m to go. I was patient enough and strong enough to pass him in the last 100m. I was confident because he led from 350m and a finish like that is super tough. I thought he would have to be in a really good day to beat me,” Groves said.

The win also puts Groves into the green jersey as the leader of the points classification. He is hoping to capitalise on early success with more stage victories this tour.

“I’m very happy. It’s been a good year with a stage win in the Giro and now another one in the Vuelta quite early. Hopefully it’s not the last,” Groves said.

“It’s a really good feeling to wear the green jersey. For sure, we always had a thought about it but the first priority was to win a stage, I even didn’t contest the intermediate sprint to focus everything on the final and I think that helped. Tomorrow, on paper, should be a little bit harder but I’ll try to see how it goes and hopefully we can win again."

The win is Groves’ second taste of victory at La Vuelta, after he took out stage 11 in a bunch sprint last year.

Main photo: La Vuelta