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Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) prevailed in a bunch sprint on the wet streets of northern Spain, with Pavel Bittner (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) finishing second, closely followed by Vito Braet (Intermarche-Wanty).
It had been more than 20 years since a stage of the Vuelta had finished in Santander and it’s one Groves will remember fondly after tightening his grip on the green jersey, made all the more possible by the unfortunate withdrawal of Wout van Aert on Stage 16.
The Australian rider now leads the points classification by 116 points with four stages still to come.
“It was quite a tough day,” Groves said after the race. “It started dry and then the finish was wet so it made it quite dangerous as well.
“There are only a few sprint stages in this race and the rest are mountain stages so the intermediate riders really have to try on days like today.”
The nature of the stage meant there was little movement in the general classification, with Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) able to preserve his five-second advantage over Primoz Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe).
A group of four riders had created some distance over the mountains situated midway through the 141.5-kilometre course but were eventually brought back to the peloton on the flat stretch into the final kilometres.
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La Vuelta 2024
series • cycling
series • cycling
O’Connor, meanwhile, was happy to see his compatriot get the victory and continue what’s been a successful Grand Tour for Australian riders, with Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) also leading the mountains classification.
“It’s always good to see another fellow Aussie win,” said O’Connor, who was docked 20 UCI points after missing the podium ceremony on Stage 16.
“It was a bit wet, not too hard, a little treacherous on the descents, but it wasn’t too complicated in the end.”
