Kaden Groves, Gympie cycling star, makes history at La Vuelta

A Gympie cycling sensation has made history after becoming the first Australian to win the green jersey at the Vuelta a España. READ MORE >>

A cyclist who honed his craft on the streets of Gympie has made history to become the first Australian to win the green jersey at the Vuelta a España this week.

Groves entered the final few stages of the 78th Tour of Spain with dangerously liberated Belgian Remco Evenepoel, hot on his heels.

Groves held a 36-point lead for the green jersey with just three stages left, which reduced to just 19 points ahead of the final stage as Evenepoel made his move.

But Groves held firm, claiming the overall win in stage 21 to win the green jersey by 79 points.

Gympie rider Kaden Groves (Team Alpecin-Deceuninck) wins the green points jersey at the 78th Tour of Spain. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

“It’s pretty special,” Groves said.

“I need to thank my team, without them it wouldn’t have been possible.

“We had such a big month here in Spain and we prepared together as well.

“This victory of the jersey and also my third stage mean a lot to me and I need to thank my team.”

Groves, a Sunshine Coast Cycling Club member, entered the 21st and final stage of the La Vuelta knowing Evenepoel would try to make a serious move, and the Gympie product eyed a stage win to stave off the Belgian threat.

“For sure, I didn’t imagine I would win this way,” Groves said.

“Coming into today, I really wanted to take the stage and keep the green jersey but going for a breakaway wasn’t my intention.

“Remco (Evenepoel) this morning was a threat for the green jersey and I suspected he might try something, not to take the jersey, but to try and win the stage.

“And I knew I had to follow him.

“It was quite interesting in the finale.

“I didn’t want to pull the guys in the last kilometre because obviously it would take away my sprint.

“We all looked at each other and then it meant that peloton came back.

“But I knew that when I’m in a sprint, I can find a little extra, and Remco leading out in the final hectometres was a big advantage for me.”

Alpecin-Deceuninck's Australian rider Kaden Groves celebrates on the podium after winning the 21st and last stage of the 2023 La Vuelta. (Photo by Oscar DEL POZO / AFP)

The green jersey is primarily associated with sprinters, although it has also been captured by climbers and all-rounders in the past.

Groves’ claim to the esteemed accolade started with back-to-back victories in the early stages of the epic Spanish stage race.

In both races, riders struggled to deal with traffic conditions but Groves managed to avoid the surrounding carnage, powering himself through to a sprint finish.

He finished the tour with three stage wins and two more podiums (second in stages two and 12), and the green jersey triumph makes for what is undoubtedly his greatest achievement on two wheels in a journey which started in 2015.

Cycling, to Groves, was just a form of rehabilitation from a devastating knee injury as a motocross rider, but now it’s motivation that drives him to peaks few believed he was capable of achieving.

Team Alpecin's Australian rider Kaden Groves wins the 21st and last stage of the 2023 La Vuelta. (Photo by Oscar DEL POZO / AFP)

His talent was evident early on in his career with strong performances in local Queensland races, but it was with Australian Continental squad St George that he was given a platform to showcase his abilities in 2017.

Whispers started to emerge of the talented youngster from the Sunshine Coast who could sprint with the best, and he’s never looked back, having spent the best part of the past seven years on racing internationally.

He also claimed gold in the criterium at the 2021 national road championships.

But to stand atop the podium in Madrid, adorned in the green jersey and with his name in the history books as the first Australian to achieve the feat, now stands as his greatest achievement in cycling so far.