Australian rider Kaden Groves bounced back from what started as a bad day for his BikeExchange-Jayco team, winning the first Vuelta a España stage of his career in a big bunch sprint on Wednesday. The team saw Simon Yates withdraw prior to the start of the stage, with the rider who was in fifth place overall one of five who left the race due to Covid-19.
It came one day after Ireland’s Sam Bennett also had to call a halt to his campaign for the same reason. Wednesday’s withdrawals brought the total of Covid-related retirements to 21 with a week and a half to go. This is four more than the total for the entire Tour de France, and shows that the Vuelta a España has had a transmission rate approximately double that of the French event.
Bennett is currently isolating in a hotel previously used by his team, and faces a period of time on the sidelines while he recovers.
Groves took his stage victory ahead of Bennett’s leadout man Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe), with the Belgian champion Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Deceuninck) third. Overnight leader Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) finished safely in the main bunch, retaining his red jersey. He maintains his 2:41 advantage over Primož Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and remains 3:03 in front of Enric Mas (Movistar Team) heading towards Thursday’s summit finish.
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However, he had a setback on Wednesday, with teammate Julian Alaphilippe crashing out of the race with a suspected broken collar bone. This means the Frenchman has almost certainly lost any chance of retaining his title in the upcoming world championships.
