Sunshine Coast rider 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 Pogacar 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 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.
“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’ve shown them.
“It’s my first time winning, so it’s pretty incredible.”
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.
Earlier in the stage, another Australian, Harrison Sweeny, had made his mark.
When the front group tackled the 3.6km Côte de Thesy, 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, Pogacar 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 Pogacar in third overall.
Barring a dramatic misadventure, Pogacar should complete the job on Sunday and move level with British rider Chris Froome on four Tour titles.
