Stage 17 of La Vuelta 24 was already a historic day for Australian cycling, with three riders from Down Under leading three different standings, and it finished in superb fashion, as Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) sprinted to victory in Santander.
He dominated a thrilling finale to take his 3rd win in this edition, ahead of Pavel Bittner (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) and Vito Braet (Intermarché-Wanty). Meanwhile, Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) survived a rainy day to hold on to La Roja, while Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) held on to the polka-dot jersey.
Stage 17 is entirely set in Cantabria, an autonomous community deeply rooted in the history of La Vuelta. The sprinters eye a last opportunity to shine but there are two cat-2 climbs and 2,164m of elevation to overcome from Arnuero to Santander (141.5km).
4 leaders
Attackers are willing to pull the upset. Jonas Gregaard (Lotto Dstny), Thibault Guernalec (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Thomas Champion (Cofidis) and Xabier Isasa (Euskatel-Euskadi) open a gap at km 2.
Many chasers try to join them at the front, but the peloton doesn’t let them go, and the four leaders eventually build a gap of 4’10’’ en route to the two ascents of the day: the Alto de La Estranguada (summit at km 54.8) and the Alto Del Caracol (km 70.4).
Groves dominates a thrilling finale
Alpecin Deceuninck (for Kaden Groves), DSM-Firmenich-PostNL (Pavel Bittner) and Kern Pharma (Pau Miquel) pull the bunch. The gap is down to 1 minute with 18km to go.
Champion is dropped but Gregaard, Guernalec and Isasa insist until the last 2km, when Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) tries to upset the bunch on the wet roads of Santander.
Alpecin-Deceuninck stay in control and make sure Kaden Groves can sprint to his seventh La Vuelta stage win, the third this year. Pavel Bittner (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) finishes second. – www.lavuelta.es
