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Australia’s Kaden Groves has completed his set of grand tour stage wins after traversing the slippery roads to triumph on the penultimate day of the Tour de France.
His late solo breakaway left the big two of Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard trailing in the pouring rain of northern France.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider surged ahead 16 kilometres from home and held on for his first Tour stage win and 10th at major races. The 26-year-old from the Sunshine Coast has claimed two at the Giro d’Italia and seven at the Spanish Vuelta.
He finished 54 seconds ahead of Frank van den Broek and 59 clear of Pascal Eenkhoorn, bursting into tears as he crossed the finish line in Pontarlier.
Groves’ first career Tour stage win was a third of this race for his Alpecin-Deceuninck team but the first since stage two, with their previous two winners, Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel, since lost to injury and illness.
“Today we weren’t sure whether to go for the stage or wait for tomorrow but when the rain falls I have a super feeling normally in the cold weather,” an emotional Groves said.
“There’s so much pressure at the Tour, and having won in the Giro, having won in the Vuelta, all I ever get asked is am I good enough to win in the Tour? And now I show them.
“It’s my first time winning, so it’s pretty incredible.”
Earlier in the stage, another Australian, Harrison Sweeny, had made his mark.
When the front group tackled the 3.6km Côte de Thésy, Frenchman Jordan Jegat launched a solo attack, but he was then overtaken by Sweeny.
Kaden Groves celebrates on the podium after winning a Tour de France stage for the first time. Source: AP / Mosa’ab Elshamy
As rain fell heavily again after 40km, Sweeny opened up a 50-second lead, only to be quickly reeled in.
Aside from the Australian cameos, Pogačar kept things safe to maintain his healthy lead over arch-rival Vingegard and set the stage for a triumphant finale into Paris on Sunday.
The Slovenian ace has a 4 minutes 24 seconds advantage over two-time Tour winner Vingegaard with Germany’s Florian Lipowitz 11:03 behind Pogačar in third overall.
Barring a dramatic misadventure, Pogačar should complete the job on Sunday (local time) and move level with British rider Chris Froome on four Tour titles.
Victory would also give Pogačar a fifth Grand Tour after winning the Giro d’Italia in dominant fashion last year.
However, Sunday’s final stage is not a processional one, as is usually the case, and could potentially prove troublesome toward the end with three consecutive climbs.
Saturday’s 184.2km route from Nantua through eastern France featured three small climbs and a moderately difficult one up Côte de Thésy.
The wet roads were treacherous at high speeds, with France’s Romain Grégoire and Spaniard Iván Romeo both crashing as they attempted to navigate tight turns. Both were able to continue.
The final stage is a 132.3km ride from Mantes-la-Jolie to Paris, where the peloton will cycle up the famous Butte Montmartre three times before the final laps on the Champs-Elysees.
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