Latest news with #Alpecin-Deceuninck
Express Tribune
4 days ago
- Sport
- Express Tribune
Groves avoids crash to win Tour Stage 20
Australian Kaden Groves completed his set of grand tour stage wins when he prevailed on the Tour de France's penultimate ride, avoiding a crash on slippery roads before powering to a solo triumph on the 184.2km journey from Nantua on Saturday. Groves's bike-handling skills were on display when he managed to stay up as Spain's Ivan Romeo and France's Romain Gregoire skidded out of control in front of him on a wet descent 21 kilometres from the finish. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider then attacked from a reduced breakaway bunch and never looked back in the remaining 17 kilometres, bursting into tears in a mix of disbelief and exhaustion after the line. Groves, who gave his team their third victory in this year's Tour after Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel also won, has seven Vuelta and two Giro d'Italia stage wins to his name. Dutchman Frank van den Broek took second place, 54 seconds behind, with his compatriot Pascal Eenkhoorn third, five seconds further back. Defending champion Tadej Pogacar spent a quiet day in the main peloton and made another step towards a fourth Tour title as he retained his overall leader's yellow jersey with a 4:24 advantage over Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard. 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. Meanwhile, according to the stage 20 report uploaded on the Tour de France website gave more details. The elaborate battle for the breakaway Right from the gun, Kasper Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost) sets off. The Danish rouleur has found success on these roads before, having pulled off a hard-fought breakaway victory in Bourg-en-Bresse (stage 18, 2023), some 30 kilometres west of Nantua. The Danish goes hard under the rain but he doesn't succeed in breaking away due to the many attacks and counter-attacks shaking up the bunch. His EF teammates, and notably Ben Healy, are very active. Harry Sweeny eventually makes a 13-man breakaway formed at km 65, as the Australian rider joins Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Ewen Costiou (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) with nine more chasers: Pascal Eenkhoorn (Soudal-Quick Step), Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ), Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Matteo Trentin (Tudor), Ivan Romeo (Movistar), Simone Velasco (XDS-Astana), Jordan Jegat (Total Energies), Frank van den Broek (Picnic-PostNL) and Jake Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech). As Jegat threatens Ben O'Connor's 10th place in the overall standings (4'08'' of difference between them), Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) is tasked with driving the scattered bunch. Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL) and Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) are momentarily dropped but the situation eventually settles. Despite a crash at km 71, the Swiss national champion controls the gap at 2'30'' at the bottom of the main climb of the day, Côte de Thésy. Jegat accelerates on the climb. Sweeny joins him at the summit. And the Australian rider goes solo with 54 kilometres to go to the finish. He opens a gap of 40'' to his his breakaway rivals before the latter change the script. Ten riders get back together as they hit the bottom of the Côte de Longeville (cat. 4, summit 24.1km away from the finish). Costiou, Wellens and Jorgenson have been distanced. A group of six riders emerges over the top: Grégoire, Romeo, Velasco, Groves, Stewart and Van den Broek. Grégoire accelerates on the downhill but his rivals follow. Romeo counter-attacks but he slips in a turn with 22 km to go and hits the deck. Grégoire and Velasco are also affected. Groves, Stewart and Van den Broek keep going. With 16.5 km to go, Stewart and Van den Broek look at each other. Groves doesn't wait for them and takes off towards victory! At the finish, Van den Broek (+54'') and Eenkhoorn (+59'') complete the top 3 while Grégoire has to settle for 5th on his home roads. The peloton cross the line with a gap of over 7 minutes. Jegat takes the 10th place in the overall standings from O'Connor. REUTERS/TOUR DE FRANCE OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Qatar Tribune
4 days ago
- Sport
- Qatar Tribune
Pogacar on cusp of 4th Tour de France victory
PA Media/dpa Paris Kaden Groves won stage 20 of the Tour de France from a breakaway in Pontarlier as Tadej Pogacar came through the penultimate day unscathed to ensure he will wear yellow into Paris on Sunday. Groves left Frank van den Broek and Briton Jake Stewart behind with 16 kilometres of the rolling 184km stage from Nantua remaining, taking advantage of their hesitancy to quickly build a lead as he won by 55 seconds from Van den Broek, completing a trilogy with wins in all three Grand Tours. Behind, the peloton rolled in some seven minutes down, happy to survive a damp day that saw several riders crash as Pogacar retained his 4 minute 24 second lead over rival Jonas Vingegaard on the last day before Paris. The addition of three ascents of the Montmartre climb to Sunday's finale should rule out the usual Champs-Elysees sprint and keep the racing on for one more day - subject to a threat of rain - but Pogacar can almost start celebrating his fourth Tour title and begin plotting a record-equalling fifth. 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. Pogacar mathematically secured the king of the mountains' polka dot jersey early on this stage, with yellow surely set to follow on Sunday.
7NEWS
4 days ago
- Sport
- 7NEWS
Tears flow as Aussie Kaden Groves shows the world he is ‘good enough' to win on the Tour de France
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 16km from home and held on for his first Tour stage win and 10th at major races. The 26-year-old from the Sunshine Coast completed the historic Trilogy feat after claiming two stages at the Giro d'Italia and seven at the Spanish Vuelta. His bike-handling skills in the wet were to the fore as he negotiated a sodden descent 21km from the finish while two other rivals skidded out of control. 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. 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 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.
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Climate
- Sydney Morning Herald
Aussie rider in tears as he triumphs in slippery Tour de France stage
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. His bike-handling skills in the wet were to the fore as he negotiated a sodden descent 21km from the finish while two other rivals skidded out of control. 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.
The Age
4 days ago
- Climate
- The Age
Aussie rider in tears as he triumphs in slippery Tour de France stage
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. His bike-handling skills in the wet were to the fore as he negotiated a sodden descent 21km from the finish while two other rivals skidded out of control. 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.
