Kaden Groves with a somber face on the podium for green jersey: “This is not the way we wanted it”

Wout van Aert was comfortably in the green in the Vuelta and would not normally be caught by pursuer Kaden Groves, who was already 109 points behind before the sixteenth stage. The Australian made it clear that there was little to celebrate when he appeared on the podium after Van Aert’s abandonment. “This is not how we wanted it,” Alpecin-Deceuninck said.

Without his crash, Van Aert could even have increased his lead in the points classification on the way to Lagos de Covadonga, because he was in the leading group on his way to the intermediate sprint, while Groves was nowhere to be seen.

Kaden Groves’ team announced via X: “No top results for our riders in the sixteenth stage of the Vuelta, although Kaden was expected on the podium afterwards. After the unfortunate abandonment of Wout van Aert due to a crash, Kaden takes over the green jersey as leader in the points classification. To be clear: this is not the way we wanted it. We especially wish Wout a speedy recovery.”