In the eleventh stage of the Vuelta a España, Australian rider Kaden Groves, riding for BikeExchange, flashed a burst of speed to clinch the sprint finish. The route stretched from Alhama de Murcia to Cabo de Gata in Almería, as Groves crossed the line ahead of the peloton, with Remco Evenepoel still wearing the leader’s red jersey for now, representing Quick Step. The stage showcased a fast, high-stakes finish where power and positioning mattered as much as endurance.
Stage Profile and Key Players
The day’s climax came after a demanding 192.7-kilometer course that tested teams on a mix of rolling flats and technical segments. Groves’s victory came in a time of 5 hours, 3 minutes, and 14 seconds, averaging an impressive 37.8 kilometers per hour. He crossed the line with a confident gesture, his arms raised in celebration as the crowd acknowledged a well-executed sprint from a rider known for his explosive finishing kick.
Behind Groves, the battle for podium spots intensified. Dutch sprinter Danny van Poppel, riding for Bora-Hansgrohe, secured second place, followed by Belgian veteran Tim Merlier of Alpecin-Deceuninck in third. The chalkboard across the finish line reflected a sprint that mixed tactical nous with sheer power, typical of this stage’s finish corridor along the southern coast of Spain.
In the overall standings, Evenepoel continued to hold the red jersey, maintaining a lead of 2 minutes and 41 seconds over Slovenian Primoz Roglic of Jumbo-Visma. Spanish climber Enric Mas, riding for Movistar, stood 3 minutes and 3 seconds off the lead, highlighting the early-season form and the divergent strengths within the GC battle as the race moved deeper into its mountain and sprint phases.
Looking ahead, the race calendar signaled another pivotal day. The upcoming stage promised a varied terrain profile and a route that would push the contenders to adapt on the fly, with strategic decisions likely to hinge on breakaway opportunities, sprint team coordination, and the response to elevation profiles that could reshuffle the general classification at key checkpoints.