Vuelta a Espana: Kaden Groves takes hat-trick in wet sprint on Stage 17, Ben O'Connor survives another day in red

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With Wout van Aert out of the Vuelta a Espana, Kaden Groves pulled on the green jersey and delivered a last-gasp victory on a rare outing for the sprinters on Stage 17. Groves looked prime for his hat-trick when the breakaway was caught with 3km to go, but three late escapees sparked a lively finale that the Australian managed to conquer. Meanwhile, Ben O'Connor kept the red jersey on his back.

'It had to be!' - Groves finishes off Alpecin–Deceuninck chase to win Stage 17

Video credit: TNT Sports

The Alpecin-Deceuninck team of sprinter Kaden Groves left it late to reel in a breakaway and mop up an eleventh-hour counter-attack in sodden Santander as the Australian powered to a third stage win on the Vuelta a Espana to strengthen his vice-like grip on the green jersey.

Groves ensured Stage 17 went to script by holding off Czech rival Pavel Bittner (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Belgium’s Vito Braet (Intermarche-Wanty) in what should be the last bunch sprint of the 79th edition of La Vuelta.

Spain’s Paul Miquel (Equipo Kern Pharma) and Australia’s Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) completed the top five ahead of Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny) after the Belgian’s late attack alongside Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) and Enzo Leijnse (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) was swept up inside the final kilometre.

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Winless this season ahead of the Vuelta, 25-year-old Groves now has another Spanish hat-trick to add to the one he secured in last year’s edition. And following the withdrawal of Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) on Tuesday, Groves is on course to secure back-to-back green jersey titles in Madrid on Sunday.

Groves paid tribute to his Alpecin-Deceuninck team after they combined with the DSM and Kern Pharma teams of sprinters Bittner and Miquel to neutralise the day’s break before snuffing out the late threat posed by Campenaerts and Swiss champion Schmid.

“My team were so strong,” Groves said. “They had a really super day to help control with Kern Pharma and DSM. It wasn’t easy – we only caught them in the last kilometre – but what a super team.

“It was my last opportunity here at this race and I had such a super-motivated team that did so well at the start to control the breakaway and make sure the composition was correct. To repay them with win number three is pretty special.”

Groves praises 'super motivated' team-mates after Stage 17 triumph

Video credit: TNT Sports

Ben O'Connor (Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale) enjoyed a rare trouble-free day to maintain his five-second lead over Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) in the general classification.

With two climbs on the agenda in a short 141.5km test in north-west Spain, the race was animated with an early attack by French duo Thibault Guernalec (Arkea-B&B Hotels) and Thomas Champion (Cofidis), Spain's Xabier Isasa (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Denmark's Jonas Gregaard (Lotto Dstny).

After a counter-move was swept up, the quartet’s lead quickly grew to above four minutes ahead of the first of those successive second-category ascents, where Isasa found himself off the back even before the gradient ramped up to an almost comedic 21%.

Gregaard led the leaders over the top of the Alto de la Estranguada before Champion was held up by an issue with his chain. Both he and Isasa were able to fight back into contention, though, in time for the Alto del Caracol, where Gregaard doubled up over the summit.

The climbs done, the race now entered its endgame with the four escapees holding an advantage of four-and-a-half minutes over the pack ahead of the largely flat run into Santander. Some heavy rain and a couple of spiky hills made the chase challenging, but the gap gradually came down as Alpecin-Deceuninck, DSM and Kern Pharma combined on the front.

With the advantage dropping under the minute-mark with 20km to go, Campenaerts put in the first of his accelerations. Whether this was to break clear or disrupt the chase to aid his team-mate Gregaard up the road remained unclear.

But the Belgian powerhouse clearly fancied his chances for he was an ever-present force near the front as the peloton powered towards Santander while closing in on what was now a trio following Champion’s implosion as the rain pounded down.

Just as the riders in the break were sitting up inside the final three kilometres, Schmid made a move that was quickly covered by Bittner’s DSM team-mate Leijnse. Campenaerts then bridged over to throw another cat among the sodden pigeons.

But, ultimately, the finish kept to the script. Belgium’s Xandro Meurisse did enough to reel in the leaders before handing over the reins to fellow Belgian Edward Planckaert, who led out team-mate Groves to a third win to complete Alpecin’s strong day in the office.

Planckaert punched both hands in the air in celebration of Groves’s victory as he crossed the line to take seventh place behind the battling Campenaerts – almost coming a cropper on the slippery roads in the wake of his team-mate’s third triumph.

Groves now has over double the points tally of his nearest rival Bittner in the green jersey standings, which until recently were being led so emphatically by Van Aert.

The focus now shifts back to the red jersey of O’Connor as the Vuelta enters its final decisive phase, with the Australian holding a five-second lead over the triple champion Roglic and a 1’25” lead over Spain’s three-time runner-up Enric Mas (Movistar).

Thursday’s Stage 18 is a lumpy 179.3km ride that features two tough climbs and should suit the breakaway specialists. It is followed by two summit finishes and the final time trial around Madrid where the race will be decided on the streets of the Spanish capital.

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