MADRID, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) outsprinted Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) to win the 14th stage of the Vuelta a Espana cycle race on Saturday.
Groves claimed his second stage win of the race after holding off Van Aert, who looked to be the favorite to win a slightly uphill sprint at the end of the 200-kilometer stage between Villafranca del Bierzo and Villablino in the north of Spain.
Although the day was classed as a 'half-mountain' stage, the biggest climb of the day up the first category Puerto de Leitariegos, its 4.5 percent gradient meant that sprinters, such as Groves, were able to make it over in the main peloton with the help of their team.
With few chances for a sprint between now and the end of the race, teams with sprinters were keen to make sure no breakaway had the chance to reach the end of the stage intact.
A rapid end to the stage on the descent of the Puerto de Leitariegos added some emotion to the stage, but Groves and Van Aert worked their way through to pole position for the sprint, where Groves dug deep to win.
There was no change to the overall standings, where Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R-La Mondiale) leads Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) by 1 minute and 21 seconds.
The overall lead could change after Sunday's 15th stage, which has three categorized climbs before finishing at the spot of the special category Cuitu Negru, which is a brutal 18.9 kilometers of ascent at an average gradient of 7.4 percent but has a leg-shattering last two kilometers with ramps of up to 24 percent. ■
