Latest news with #KadenGroves
Times
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Times
Mads Pedersen in pink despite crash on Giro d'Italia stage six
Kaden Groves sprinted to victory in a rain and crash-affected stage six of the Giro d'Italia in which the race leader, Mads Pedersen, crashed on the slippery roads. The Australian, of Alpecin-Deceuninck, unleashed an almighty sprint in Naples after twisting and turning through the cobbled streets to take his first win of the season ahead of Milan Fretin (Cofidis) and Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step). But even if we expected this 227km stage to be one for the sprinters, the Giro showed once again why it is perhaps the most unpredictable grand tour of the year due to its position in May often throwing up issues outside of the riders' or race director's control — think of Geraint Thomas in pink, riding through Verbier in the torrential rain in 2023. And so it was on stage six when a mass crash caused havoc, forcing some riders to abandon the race, and later a protester ran out in front of the peloton within the final 3km. The crash came with 71km to go on the way from Potenza to Naples as the rain came down and the roads became shiny and the white lines on the tarmac became slippery. As the breakaway's gap was falling to about 45 seconds, Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) apparently slipped while braking in the centre of the peloton and hit the ground hard. Numerous riders came down behind him, including Pedersen and fellow general classifcation (GC) contender Richard Carapaz. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) also took a tumble among the masses of riders on the floor, but while most were able to get up and carry on, Hindley sat by the roadside, dazed (perhaps concussed) and making no efforts to stand. Soon after Australian Hindley, the 2022 Giro d'Italia winner, was taken away by the medical team and had to abandon the race. It was a horrible loss for the Giro and as well as a disappointment for the Red Bull rider, it was a blow for Primoz Roglic, the favourite to win the Pink Jersey, who has lost his key lieutenant for the mountains to come. The race was neutralised at this point and rolled on at 20km/h until it was halted completely. And so an argument we're used to having at the Giro d'Italia continued: are wet and slippery roads part and parcel of professional cycling, or are they a risk too far with the speeds of the modern day? The GC teams would have been quite happy to neutralise the entire race but Mauro Vegni, the race director, faces other pressures, including a contract with Naples to bring the race there. The rain wasn't too hard, but the roads were treacherous. If there was enough danger to cause a crash on an innocuous flat, straight road, a sprint finish may well have been deemed too much. A compromise was reached however. The race started again with 58km to go. There was a stage win up for grabs but that was it. All riders would receive the same time as the winner, meaning all GC riders were safe. There would be no points on offer for the points-classification Ciclamino Jersey and there would be no bonus seconds awarded on the finish line. Otherwise the race was back on and the breakaway was given its original gap back. Meanwhile Pedersen, who appeared to be rubbing his right thigh in the peloton after the crash, sat up and dropped behind the leading group. It was clear he wasn't going to complete the sprint finish and wanted to take advantage of the GC neutralisation to avoid any danger. So for the other teams there was a chance for a victory. Cue Visma–Lease a Bike heading to the front of the group chasing down the two-man breakaway of Taco van der Hoorn and Enzo Paleni in service of their sprinter Olav Kooij. With 10km to go, the valiant breakaway, which had got away with 195km to go, still had 24 seconds on the reduced sprinters' peloton. For a moment, as they entered the twisting roads of Naples, it looked as if the breakaway may make it to the finish. But a protester ran out onto the road with 3km to go, disrupting their efforts, and soon the peloton behind had swallowed the breakaway up. The sprint was as messy as the stage itself. Jensen Plowright, Groves's team-mate, went off the front, leaving behind his team in the last kilometre and forcing Wout van Aert to chase him down, only for the Belgian's team-mate, Kooij, to lose his wheel also. Van Aert appeared to make a half-hearted attempt for the line himself but ultimately ran out of steam. Kooij was then in a bad position up against the advertising boards with Matteo Moschetti (who was later relegated from eighth to 176th for his dangerous sprint) and had nowhere to go so was forced to sit up. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. Meanwhile Groves had clear air to lay down the power we've been waiting to see since he returned from injury this year. 'Its a big relief,' Groves said after the race. 'The team always believes in me and its not been a great start to the season with the injury, I missed a lot of racing and I was arriving here without a win — so getting the first one of the year is a big relief. 'We needed to use some guys early to close the breakaway and they did a super ride, and in the end I still had two team-mates, Plowright and [Edward] Planckaert, who did a super job.' For Pedersen — who rolled in ten minutes behind — holding on to the Pink Jersey was something of a poisoned chalice. He had to complete the usual leader's press conference as well as attend a special reception with politicians and military representatives before one of the longest transfers of this year's Giro d'Italia, a two hour drive between Naples and Castel di Sangro. There, the race will enter the mountains on the route to Tagliacozzo, where Pedersen is expected to relinquish the jersey as the GC competition truly kicks off.
ABC News
24-05-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Australian Groves finishes second to Asgreen in Giro d'Italia stage 14
Australia's Kaden Groves has finished second to Dane Kasper Asgreen in the 14th stage of the Giro d'Italia. Groves (Alpecin–Deceuninck) outsprinted Dutchman Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) to take second place in the 195-kilometre stage from Treviso to Nova Gorica in Slovenia. Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost) took advantage of a crash in the chasing peloton and went alone to win the stage, with Mexican Isaac del Toro extending his overall lead. Several riders were brought down in the crash, leaving Asgreen to go for broke in the final kilometres as he held off the chasing group. "It was a tough day out there," Asgreen said. "It's annoying when you have to destroy yourself completely like this to win bike races, but when it works out it's all worth it." Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) managed to avoid trouble and was with the chasing group, which followed Asgreen over the line to increase his lead at the head of the general classification. Briton Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) climbed to second. Del Toro began the day with a 38-second lead over teammate Juan Ayuso but now has a gap of one minute and 20 seconds on Yates. Ayuso is a further six seconds back. Groves had claimed victory in the crash-laden sixth stage that finished in Naples. He now has four top-five finishes in this year's race. Groves's compatriot Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) leads the Australian contingent in the general classifications in 13th position. Storer is 4:25 behind del Toro. Stage 15 features a climb up Monte Grappa at the mid-point of the 219km route from Fiume Veneto to Asiago. Reuters/AAP
The Advertiser
24-05-2025
- Sport
- The Advertiser
Aussie Groves makes podium but misses out at Giro
Kaden Groves got it all right to prevail in the sprint finale to the 14th stage as the Giro d'Italia had a warmly greeted stopover in Slovenia - but, alas for the Queensland speedster, it was only enough to earn him the runner-up prize for the day. For 16 seconds up ahead in the finale to the stage at Nova Gorica on Saturday, Denmark's Kasper Asgreen, who'd got into an early breakaway, escaped on his own to steal the win which had looked tailor-made for the sprinters. Groves, who had been looking for another win in the 108th Giro after victory on the crash-laden sixth stage in Naples, had to settle for second this time in the 168km trek from across the border in Treviso as the Alpecin-Deceuninck ace edged out Dutchman Olav Kooij, winner of Thursday's stage 12. For Groves that's now four top-five finishes in this year's race but this one will doubtless come as a frustration on a wet, slippery day after Asgreen stole a march from the breakaway five kilometres from home, splashing away to his second Grand Tour win. Behind him there had been chaos after a crash which enabled the overall race leader Isaac del Toro to gain time on many of his biggest rivals who'd been slowed by the pile-up about 22km from the finish that occurred on a narrow cobblestoned section. Del Toro, the first Mexican rider to wear the leader's pink jersey, benefited by featuring in the second group containing Groves. But his UAE Team Emirates teammate Juan Ayuso, 2023 champion Primoz Roglic and top-placed Italian Antonio Tiberi all finished further behind, along with Australia's main GC hope Michael Storer. "We wanted to be ahead in case accidents like that happen or there are splits in the group," said del Toro. He entered the stage 38 seconds up on Ayuso and improved his lead to 1 minute 20 seconds, but his nearest challenger now is Briton Simon Yates (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) with his Spanish teammate dropping to third, 1:26 behind. The 2019 champion Richard Carapaz is fourth, 2:07 behind; and Roglic is 2:23 adrift in fifth, with Storer now 13th at 4:25. Mads Pedersen, who might have fancied a fifth stage win of the race, also had his chances ended in the crash and had to change bikes. "In the second half of a Grand Tour, everybody has tired legs and that made the difference today for the breakaway to be successful," Asgreen said. "The weather conditions have definitely played in my favor. The final circuit was quite technical. Wet roads made it harder for the bunch to catch us." Stage 15 on Sunday will feature a big climb up Monte Grappa at the mid-point of the 219km route from Fiume Veneto to Asiago. Kaden Groves got it all right to prevail in the sprint finale to the 14th stage as the Giro d'Italia had a warmly greeted stopover in Slovenia - but, alas for the Queensland speedster, it was only enough to earn him the runner-up prize for the day. For 16 seconds up ahead in the finale to the stage at Nova Gorica on Saturday, Denmark's Kasper Asgreen, who'd got into an early breakaway, escaped on his own to steal the win which had looked tailor-made for the sprinters. Groves, who had been looking for another win in the 108th Giro after victory on the crash-laden sixth stage in Naples, had to settle for second this time in the 168km trek from across the border in Treviso as the Alpecin-Deceuninck ace edged out Dutchman Olav Kooij, winner of Thursday's stage 12. For Groves that's now four top-five finishes in this year's race but this one will doubtless come as a frustration on a wet, slippery day after Asgreen stole a march from the breakaway five kilometres from home, splashing away to his second Grand Tour win. Behind him there had been chaos after a crash which enabled the overall race leader Isaac del Toro to gain time on many of his biggest rivals who'd been slowed by the pile-up about 22km from the finish that occurred on a narrow cobblestoned section. Del Toro, the first Mexican rider to wear the leader's pink jersey, benefited by featuring in the second group containing Groves. But his UAE Team Emirates teammate Juan Ayuso, 2023 champion Primoz Roglic and top-placed Italian Antonio Tiberi all finished further behind, along with Australia's main GC hope Michael Storer. "We wanted to be ahead in case accidents like that happen or there are splits in the group," said del Toro. He entered the stage 38 seconds up on Ayuso and improved his lead to 1 minute 20 seconds, but his nearest challenger now is Briton Simon Yates (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) with his Spanish teammate dropping to third, 1:26 behind. The 2019 champion Richard Carapaz is fourth, 2:07 behind; and Roglic is 2:23 adrift in fifth, with Storer now 13th at 4:25. Mads Pedersen, who might have fancied a fifth stage win of the race, also had his chances ended in the crash and had to change bikes. "In the second half of a Grand Tour, everybody has tired legs and that made the difference today for the breakaway to be successful," Asgreen said. "The weather conditions have definitely played in my favor. The final circuit was quite technical. Wet roads made it harder for the bunch to catch us." Stage 15 on Sunday will feature a big climb up Monte Grappa at the mid-point of the 219km route from Fiume Veneto to Asiago. Kaden Groves got it all right to prevail in the sprint finale to the 14th stage as the Giro d'Italia had a warmly greeted stopover in Slovenia - but, alas for the Queensland speedster, it was only enough to earn him the runner-up prize for the day. For 16 seconds up ahead in the finale to the stage at Nova Gorica on Saturday, Denmark's Kasper Asgreen, who'd got into an early breakaway, escaped on his own to steal the win which had looked tailor-made for the sprinters. Groves, who had been looking for another win in the 108th Giro after victory on the crash-laden sixth stage in Naples, had to settle for second this time in the 168km trek from across the border in Treviso as the Alpecin-Deceuninck ace edged out Dutchman Olav Kooij, winner of Thursday's stage 12. For Groves that's now four top-five finishes in this year's race but this one will doubtless come as a frustration on a wet, slippery day after Asgreen stole a march from the breakaway five kilometres from home, splashing away to his second Grand Tour win. Behind him there had been chaos after a crash which enabled the overall race leader Isaac del Toro to gain time on many of his biggest rivals who'd been slowed by the pile-up about 22km from the finish that occurred on a narrow cobblestoned section. Del Toro, the first Mexican rider to wear the leader's pink jersey, benefited by featuring in the second group containing Groves. But his UAE Team Emirates teammate Juan Ayuso, 2023 champion Primoz Roglic and top-placed Italian Antonio Tiberi all finished further behind, along with Australia's main GC hope Michael Storer. "We wanted to be ahead in case accidents like that happen or there are splits in the group," said del Toro. He entered the stage 38 seconds up on Ayuso and improved his lead to 1 minute 20 seconds, but his nearest challenger now is Briton Simon Yates (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) with his Spanish teammate dropping to third, 1:26 behind. The 2019 champion Richard Carapaz is fourth, 2:07 behind; and Roglic is 2:23 adrift in fifth, with Storer now 13th at 4:25. Mads Pedersen, who might have fancied a fifth stage win of the race, also had his chances ended in the crash and had to change bikes. "In the second half of a Grand Tour, everybody has tired legs and that made the difference today for the breakaway to be successful," Asgreen said. "The weather conditions have definitely played in my favor. The final circuit was quite technical. Wet roads made it harder for the bunch to catch us." Stage 15 on Sunday will feature a big climb up Monte Grappa at the mid-point of the 219km route from Fiume Veneto to Asiago. Kaden Groves got it all right to prevail in the sprint finale to the 14th stage as the Giro d'Italia had a warmly greeted stopover in Slovenia - but, alas for the Queensland speedster, it was only enough to earn him the runner-up prize for the day. For 16 seconds up ahead in the finale to the stage at Nova Gorica on Saturday, Denmark's Kasper Asgreen, who'd got into an early breakaway, escaped on his own to steal the win which had looked tailor-made for the sprinters. Groves, who had been looking for another win in the 108th Giro after victory on the crash-laden sixth stage in Naples, had to settle for second this time in the 168km trek from across the border in Treviso as the Alpecin-Deceuninck ace edged out Dutchman Olav Kooij, winner of Thursday's stage 12. For Groves that's now four top-five finishes in this year's race but this one will doubtless come as a frustration on a wet, slippery day after Asgreen stole a march from the breakaway five kilometres from home, splashing away to his second Grand Tour win. Behind him there had been chaos after a crash which enabled the overall race leader Isaac del Toro to gain time on many of his biggest rivals who'd been slowed by the pile-up about 22km from the finish that occurred on a narrow cobblestoned section. Del Toro, the first Mexican rider to wear the leader's pink jersey, benefited by featuring in the second group containing Groves. But his UAE Team Emirates teammate Juan Ayuso, 2023 champion Primoz Roglic and top-placed Italian Antonio Tiberi all finished further behind, along with Australia's main GC hope Michael Storer. "We wanted to be ahead in case accidents like that happen or there are splits in the group," said del Toro. He entered the stage 38 seconds up on Ayuso and improved his lead to 1 minute 20 seconds, but his nearest challenger now is Briton Simon Yates (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) with his Spanish teammate dropping to third, 1:26 behind. The 2019 champion Richard Carapaz is fourth, 2:07 behind; and Roglic is 2:23 adrift in fifth, with Storer now 13th at 4:25. Mads Pedersen, who might have fancied a fifth stage win of the race, also had his chances ended in the crash and had to change bikes. "In the second half of a Grand Tour, everybody has tired legs and that made the difference today for the breakaway to be successful," Asgreen said. "The weather conditions have definitely played in my favor. The final circuit was quite technical. Wet roads made it harder for the bunch to catch us." Stage 15 on Sunday will feature a big climb up Monte Grappa at the mid-point of the 219km route from Fiume Veneto to Asiago.
BBC News
24-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Dramatic win for Asgreen as crash affects GC battle
Kasper Asgreen held on for a remarkable breakaway win on stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia as a crash late in the day had a major impact on the general classification battle.A bunch sprint was expected in Nova Gorica/Gorizia on the Italy-Slovenia border but several riders went down 23km from the line to set up a dramatic crash split the peloton, with about 20 riders avoiding the chaos to keep up the chase of the breakaway they could not reel in Asgreen as Denmark's EF Education-EasyPost rider, 30, claimed his second Grand Tour stage win by 16 Kaden Groves outsprinted Visma-Lease a Bike rider Olav Kooij to take second leader Isaac del Toro was in the chase group and so retained the pink jersey, but only after surviving another scare towards the end of the 195km route from of his GC rivals lost further time though. More to follow.
The Guardian
24-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Kasper Asgreen goes solo after peloton crash to claim stage 14 of Giro d'Italia
Kasper Asgreen took advantage of a crash in the chasing peloton and went alone to win stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia, with Isaac del Toro extending his overall lead. The Dane was part of an early breakaway trio but, after several riders were brought down in a crash which broke up the peloton, the EF Education-EasyPost rider went for broke in the final kilometres and held off the chasing group. Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) outsprinted Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) to take second place on the 195-km stage from Treviso to Nova Gorica in Slovenia. This report will update shortly
