"The podium ceremony doesn't matter that much" - Kaden Groves unbothered by Wout van Aert taking the Green Jersey celebrations after stage 2 of La Vuelta

Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter Kaden Groves powered to a fabulous sprint win on stage 2 of the 2024 Vuelta a Espana, moving into the lead of the points classification as a result. Curiously however, the post-stage ceremonies saw Wout van Aert take to the stage and claim the Green Jersey.

“I actually already knew that I wasn’t leading the points classification, but they really wanted me on the podium,” Van Aert laughed afterwards, poking fun at the farcical situation. “There are only a few stages that are classified as real sprint stages and in which the first one scores fifty points and the second thirty. I knew that, which made me pretty certain that Groves would be ahead of me. But they said they had calculated it better. But after I had been on the podium, I saw on TV that they were wrong after all."

Ahead of stage 3 and another sprint opportunity for Groves and Van Aert among others, the Australian sprinter was thankfully in his rightful Green Jersey and even Groves himself was able to see the funny side of the whole situation.

"I knew I would wear the green anyway (because Van Aert is in the Red Jersey of overall race leader ed.). The podium ceremony doesn't matter that much either. It's just a photo," Groves says in a pre-stage 3 interview. "The most important thing is that I'm wearing the points jersey now."

Groves is also confident of adding another Vuelta a Espana stage win to his palmares this Monday afternoon. "The sprint is a bit similar to yesterday's, but I think the final as a whole is easier. That should suit me even better," concludes the Australian's analysis of the upcoming stage. "I also think our leadout can come out better here. I'm looking forward to it."