“As epic as it can possibly be” – Armstrong, Wiggins and Hincapie heap praise on Kaden Groves

Stage 20 of the 2025 Tour de France delivered the kind of drama that had the entire The Move podcast panel fired up. Kaden Groves’ unexpected solo win, his first in the Tour and his first solo professional victory, was the centre piece of discussion, drawing praise from Lance Armstrong, Bradley Wiggins, George Hincapie, and Spencer Martin.

“Your chances of actually winning are much lesser because you're the fastest guy,” Hincapie said, pointing out how Groves had to overcome tactical isolation in the break. “Nobody's going to work for you.” Yet Groves flipped the script, attacking solo from a late breakaway to take a surprise victory. “As epic as it can possibly be,” Hincapie continued. “Just crazy impressed with his performance today, and the team, for that matter.”

Groves now has stage wins in all three Grand Tours and ten total, and Armstrong heaped more praise on him for “an Australian Hall of Fame career for sure. He's a hell of a rider.”

The panel also reflected on how rare it is for a sprinter to win solo at the Tour, with Wiggins digging into the history books: “I seem to think it was 1996. Jamaladin Abdujaparov attacked from a group on a hilly stage and won solo.”

The chaotic nature of the stage, punctuated by crashes and slick roads, raised serious questions about safety. Hincapie highlighted Ivan Romeo’s crash: “Your boy Romero, who you picked to win the stage, crashed really hard. You don’t want to go into Paris with an injury like that.”

They criticized a late-stage sprint for 13th place that nearly took out GC leaders, calling it reckless under the circumstances. “We’re sprinting for 13th and 14th… and Tadej Pogacar barely misses the crash,” Martin said. “Who cares?” Martin explained the reasoning: UCI points. “Astana picked up 25 points for that effort. Every point matters.”

The discussion also looked ahead to the final stage, which features a new Montmartre circuit instead of the traditional Champs-Élysées parade. Armstrong warned the riders about the weather, “If it’s raining like today on that circuit… you may as well be watching Olympic ice skating.”

The altered route could flip the usual dynamic, especially with 14 teams still without a stage win. “Normally you’d be like, ‘Watch these guys roll around, kiss their families,’” Armstrong said. “Tomorrow’s going to be a different day.”

The Move team wrapped up the episode celebrating Alpecin-Deceuninck’s remarkable Tour, three stage wins despite the early loss of Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel to illness. “This is a five-star Tour for a team like this,” Armstrong said. “They’re schooling other teams.”