“It wasn’t a typical enjoyable stage” – But Groves plays confirms crucial role for Alpecin-Deceuninck at Tour de France

Kaden Groves played a decisive role in Jasper Philipsen’s opening stage win and maiden yellow jersey at the 2025 Tour de France, helping deliver a perfect lead-out at the end of a tough day. Speaking to a group of reporters including CyclingUpToDate before the start of Stage 2 in Lauwin-Planque, the Alpecin–Deceuninck rider admitted luck played its part in avoiding late crashes, but so did focus.

“Yeah, it was quite messy,” Groves said. “I didn’t see it coming obviously… crashes happen, so yeah, of course, quite a bit of luck… not the ideal timing, but yeah, could come back and still do a decent job.”

Video footage from Stage 1 showed Groves narrowly dodging the same crash that brought down fellow Aussie Ben O’Connor. Groves said that moment didn’t appear in full context.Despite the near miss, Groves and the team stayed composed. With Philipsen finishing it off in dominant fashion, Alpecin–Deceuninck now holds both the yellow and green jerseys.

“It’s not bad, is it, you get the first stage, you get the yellow,” Groves said. “But today’s another day, a new day.”

Stage 2 promises more drama, with rain soaked roads and an explosive finish. Groves said the team would stay aggressive, with multiple options again.

“We’re all focused again to go for another stage result, whether that be Jasper (or) Mathieu,” he said. “He can go either way today… it depends a lot on the attacking riders in the final. But yeah, it’s a stage that suits (us) really well with two cards to play.”

Reflecting on the pressure of the Tour de France, Groves didn’t sugarcoat the difficulty, “It wasn’t a typical enjoyable stage, I think, not for my first Tour anyway,” he said. “So I was really pretty locked in with the guys there and super focused all day. And in the end, it paid off.”