"This was my last chance in this Vuelta. I am very happy that I can repay my teammates" - Kaden Groves set for back-to-back Green Jersey wins after third Vuelta 2024 stage

After his third stage win of the 2024 Vuelta a Espana, Kaden Groves now only needs to stay upright and injury free to win the Green Jersey for the second year running at the Spanish Grand Tour.

"It was quite a day. The stage started dry, but towards the finish it got wetter and wetter. That made it dangerous," Alpecin-Deceuninck's Australian sprint star reflected in his post-stage interview afterwards. "I think everyone had a super day. Together with Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL and Equipo Kern Pharma, we checked the last escapees, but we only caught the last few in the last few kilometres. I really have a super team. We had also calculated that there would be attacks in the final phase. There are so few sprint stages in this tour, so those riders have to try it on this day too."

Although a few days ago, Groves' Green Jersey hopes looked pretty bleak, after Wout van Aert's abandonment on stage 16 and this third stage win, the Aussie now has more than double the points of nearest challenger Pavel Bittner in the fight for the Points Classification win. "This was my last chance in this Vuelta. I am very happy that I can repay my teammates in this way for the work they have done," Groves assesses in conclusion.

2024 Vuelta a Espana Points Classification after stage 17: