It started out as a day of woe for the Australian WorldTour team with the abandonment of Simon Yates after confirmation that he had contracted COVID. The former Vuelta winner was sitting fifth overall, 4'50 behind race leader Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep Alpha Vinyl).
“It’s devastating for us and the team,” team director Gene Bates said ahead of the stage start. “We had a big focus for the Vuelta with Simon and we were going well. There’s clearly a very strong top three at the moment, but we had a steady approach, and it was going in our favour, he’d moved up another spot to fifth overall on Tuesday.
“It's a hard pill to swallow. But the key thing is we can’t control that, so we look to what we can control and that’s all about regrouping and getting the most out of the rest of the Vuelta.”
Bates said that overnight Yates had come down with a high fever as well as other symptoms and did not sleep well. It’s the second time in Yates’ career that he’s had to abandon mid-race with a COVID diagnosis, after leaving the Giro d’Italia in 2020 with another COVID positive test.
If he finished fifth, Yates would have been in line for 380 UCI points, a valuable buoying of BikeExchange-Jayco’s chances of avoiding relegation under the new UCI rules.
“It’s a blow,” said Bates. “We can’t hide that, so we’ll just have to get a bit imaginative on where we look for those points, won’t we?
“As we know the points system and the way it’s set up doesn’t favour stage wins, more one-day races and overalls. But we’ve got the focus on stages here, and that’s what we’ll do while we’re here and we’re looking for other plan Bs.”
That was the cue for Groves to step up and take the stage win off the back of a very good leadout performance from the team, with Kell O’Brien particularly shining in his effort to keep the team at the front in the closing kilometres.
Hepburn took over, then Groves finished the race off with a powerful sprint to take the victory, his first in Grand Tours in his third season as a professional.
“I’ve got to thank all the guys, Luke was riding all day, and then we set up early for the wind,” said Groves. “We thought there would be crosswinds a bit earlier, but there was nothing until the final 4km where we were first team, and the guys did a perfect job of keeping me in front and fresh.
“We were first team in the bunch with four kilometres to go, and I never changed position, only when a few other sprinters came up too early. But luckily I was fresh enough to be able to pass them before the line.
“It’s been a really good year. I’m super happy to get a win here already and there’s still more stages to come.”
Groves secured a valuable 100 UCI points in the relegation battle, in which the Australian team sit 460 points clear of the drop, with Lotto Soudal and Israel-Premier Tech the WorldTour squads that are currently in line not to have a men’s WorldTour licence in 2023.
La Vuelta continues with a summit finish to Peñas Blancas on Stage 12, a very hard climb that will again see the top climbers come to fore to compete for the stage victory and red jersey. Watch on SBS and SBS On Demand from 11pm AEST tonight.
