Kaden Groves Wins Stage 17 of Vuelta a España

Kaden Groves of Australia clinched his third victory of the Vuelta a España on Stage 17 in Santander. Groves riding for Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinted to the finish line after a challenging day in the rain. Despite a determined breakaway, the peloton caught them with just three kilometers remaining in the 141.5km stage from Arnuero. Groves’ team played a crucial role, taking control in the final 200 meters.

He outpaced Pavel Bittner, who finished second and Vito Braet, who took third place. Groves also inherited the green points classification jersey from Wout van Aert, who had to abandon the race following a crash on Stage 16. Reflecting on his win, Groves praised his team’s efforts, stating, “It was my last opportunity to win in this race and I had such a motivated team to control the breakaway. To repay them with win number three is pretty special.”

In the overall standings, Ben O’Connor maintained his lead in the red leader’s jersey holding a five-second advantage over Primoz Roglic. The two leaders finished safely within the bunch. The general classification after Stage 17 has O’Connor leading with a time of 68 hours, 41 minutes and 14 seconds. Roglic is in second place, 5 seconds behind while Enrique Mas is in third, 1 minute and 25 seconds back.

Looking ahead, Stage 18 from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Maeztu will cover 179.5km of undulating terrain, potentially offering opportunities for breakaway success.

Stage 17 Results:
1. Kaden Groves (Aus/Alpecin-Deceuninck) – 3hrs 32mins 14secs
2. Pavel Bittner (Cze/Team dsm-firmenich PostNL)
3. Vito Braet (Bel/Intermarche-Wanty)

General Classification After Stage 17:
1. Ben O’Connor (Aus/Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale) – 68hrs 41mins 14secs
2. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull – Bora-Hansgrohe) +5secs
3. Enrique Mas (Spa/Movistar) +1min 25secs