Kaden Groves is heading to Tudor - Alpecin lose one of its leaders with Mathieu van der Poel's role set to grow

Alpecin-Premier Tech is losing one of its leaders this winter, as Kaden Groves is set to leave the team. The Belgian outfit managed to maintain Groves despite his secondary position in the team throughout the past few years, however according to several sources the Australian is heading to Tudor Pro Cycling Team.

Groves joined Alpecin in 2022 after season and a half with Team Jayco AlUla. His talent had been recognized and in his stint with the team, he was often given leadership opportunities at the Vuelta a España where he has brought in seven stage wins between 2022 and 2024. At the Giro d'Italia, he also won on two occasions - in 2023 and 2025.

Alpecin is a team that has very concrete goals: Cyclocross, the spring classics and the Tour de France. Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen often shared the same objectives on the road, leaving plenty room for Groves to explore his own abilities in a leading role.

In 2025 he achieved what was perhaps the biggest win of his career. After helping both Philipsen and van der Poel into their own individual wins and temporary leads at the Tour de France; Groves won stage 20 with a solo attack into Pontarlier - a win that not only cemented him as a top sprinter in the peloton, but also a quality classics specialist able to win without using his sprinting power.

Groves is, according to Wielerflits, already certain to join Tudor next season. The Swiss team is currently at ProTeam level, however it is currently at a level above that of several World Tour teams. Aside from classics specialists like Julian Alaphilippe and Marc Hirschi; the team has smaller names but more results from climbers such as Michael Storer and Mathys Rondel (7th and 11th at the recent Giro d'Italia).

With 30 riders in their lineup this season, Tudor already fully operates at a World Tour level and has wildcards for all races it desires. When it comes to sprinters it has Maikel Ziljaard, Marius Mayrhofer, Rick Pluimers, but above all Arvid de Kleijn as options.

But the Dutchman has only began his season in mid-May, not achieving results yet. He had the birth of his child earlier in the year and after his father passed away, it delayed the start of his season. When preparing to make a comeback, he was assaulted by a group of teenagers, leaving him unconscious and with a broken nose.

Hence, the Swiss team does not have a sprinter that could replace De Kleijn during this period, and the former Milano-Torino winner is still eyeing a Tour de France presence. But in contract year, it is not assured that he will remain with the team beyond this winter. Groves provides a new team leader and the team's best sprinting option since its jump to ProTeam level back in 2023.