Vuelta a Espana: Kaden Groves wins furious stage 12 sprint at Vuelta a Espana

Team BikeExchange - Jayco have start the day with very bad news as Simon Yates abandoned the race with Covid-19, however they have compensated at the end of the day as Kaden Groves sprinted to the win on the 12th day of the Vuelta a Espana.

With the high temperatures and headwind throughout most of the day, few riders had in mind attacking early in the day. Three riders went over to represent their teams however, with Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH), Joan Bou (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Vojtech Repa (Equipo Kern Pharma) making the move.

The group collaborated, but early on the fatigue set. Jetse Bol went solo off the front with 52 kilometers to go and was later caught with 26 to go, as the peloton rode calmly towards the finish. Despite the calm, Julian Alaphilippe couldn't avoid a crash and had to abandon the race.

However the rest of the peloton urged through to the finish, with an acceleration before the crucial turn with four kilometers to go where the riders suddenly faced a strong crosswind into the finish.

With the teams lacking the leadouts, riders stayed bunched up until the final 500 meters, where BikeExhange stood up strong. Juan Sebastian Molano launched an early sprint and tried to surprise. Riders tried coming through left and ride with a chaotic sprint, but in the end Kaden Groves was in the right position and sprinted to a strong win. He beat Danny van Poppel and Tim Merlier.