Fresh off his second stage win at the Vuelta a España, Alpecin-Desseuninck sprint ace Kayden Groves has announced that he is aiming to make the 2025 Tour de France.

One of the key elements of Groves' latest Vuelta victory (he now has six wins) was the Australian's success in remaining in the lead group of 60 riders on the long but very consistent Category 1 climb of Puerto de Leitariegos. This was, of course, what Groves also did on the even harder climb of Alto del 14% on stage 7, but on that day he suffered an unfortunate crash at the summit and lost the chance to fight with Wout Van Aert for a sprint win in Cordoba.

This time it was a completely different story, and after a fast but fairly straightforward descent from Leitariegos, Groves cleanly passed Van Aert (Vimalies a Bike) at the stage 14 finish in Villabrino. It was only the second time he had beaten a Belgian at the Vuelta a España, after his second stage win in Aurem, but as he said afterward, it felt extra good to win in what was probably his last chance at the Vuelta this year.

“It was a very tough week, I won the second stage, but I also took second and third. [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] But if Primoš [Roglic] is in good condition, I think he can be a Red Bull tomorrow [Sunday].”