Kaden Groves (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) took his first WorldTour win on Stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya, benefitting from a great leadout by race leader Michael Matthews, who celebrated as Groves passed Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) just before the line.
The 23-year-old is in his third season as a professional and had been close to a breakthrough win for a number of years, with this victory a confirmation of his talents in a world-class field.
"I’ve waited a long time for this and it feels pretty amazing," said Groves. "The guys did such a good job all day. Riding good position, making sure the breakaway was close so it could be a sprint today and then in the right position at the corner for the crosswinds."
The day of racing didn't go all BikeExchange-Jayco's way, with a late crash for overall race favourite Simon Yates seeing the British climber have to rally the majority of the squad to support him and make sure that he didn't lose too much time as the other teams forced the pace in the crosswinds.
Groves and Matthews were the only ones that didn't drop back to pace Yates, and delivered on the gamble by taking the stage win, although Matthews surrendered the race lead to breakaway rider Jonas Hvideberg (Team DSM) due to bonus seconds out on the road.
"It was pretty tough with some echelons and splits in the bunch," said Groves. "We had Simon out the back and some of the big teams, Movistar and Jumbo were using that to their advantage, trying to put some time into him. So, it was pretty full gas."
The initial breakaway wasn’t allowed much leeway, with the trio of Adria Moreno (Burgos-BH), Jonas Hvideberg (Team DSM) and Joan Bou (Euskatel-Euskadi) achieving a maximum lead of five minutes before the peloton began to gradually reel them back in.
There were a number of crashes within the peloton, with the most dramatic seeing Mattias Jensen (Trek-Segafredo) disappearing over a cliff wall on one of the corners on a descent, though he climbed back up quickly and rejoined the race.
That wasn’t the case for the 2021 runner-up at Volta a Catalunya, Richie Porte (INEOS Grenadiers) who abandoned the race after slipping away from the main bunch on a climb midway through the stage.
Porte joined 2021 Vuelta a Espana podium-getter and fellow Australian, Jack Haig, on the abandon list, with the riders each considered potential favourites to take out the overall win by the end of the week-long race.
The break was caught with 29 kilometres left to race, with a mostly flat run to the finish left. The lack of hills belied the difficulty of the final section, with gusty winds assailing the peloton as the main bunch changed direction through the Catalan countryside.
A significant moment came when Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) crashed near a traffic island with 17 kilometres remaining. His team dropped back to pace him, but they were immediately at a 45-second deficit to the peloton as they continued to drive hard into the finish in Perpinyàl.
Echelons formed in the peloton as the wind came in over the farmland, with Jumbo-Visma particularly prominent in forcing the pace. Yates' managed to reach the second group on the road, but there was little headway to be made from there, as the general classification teams were replaced by the sprinters as they lifted the pace ahead of the finish.
QuickStep Alpha Vinyl again came to the fore in the final kilometre in scenes reminiscent of Stage 1, but it was a well-timed surge from Michael Matthews in an unfamiliar leadout role that shaped the final sprint.
The Australian looked back to make sure Groves was in position, the young Queenslander gave him a nod of encouragement and Matthews powered to the front, with Bauhaus in his wheel and Groves just behind. There were only two riders that could win due to the move and it was Groves that just had enough power to emerge from the German rider's wheel to take a narrow victory on the line, with Matthews celebrating behind.
The Volta a Catalunya continues on SBS VICELAND with Stage 3, the first in the mountains as the pure cimbers will get a chance to stretch their legs on the 161-kilometre stage to La Molina. Watch on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand from 0115 AEDT.
