We’re now down to the second last stage of the Tour’25 and this was THE day that the breakaway specialists had highlighted before the race as one for them.
184km and up and down most of the day – perfect for a break?
In form riders and breakaway specialists like Jonas Abrahamsen, Victor Campenaerts, Mauro Schmid and the EF duo of Neilson Powless and Kasper Asgreen were all on the front line at the kilometer zero mark, ready to attack!
The breakaway specialists were lined up and ready…
Sure enough when the flag dropped the attacks started but only Kasper Asgreen could create any kind of gap over the fast charging peloton.
Kasper was away alone from the start
Kasper’s teammate Ben Healy also wanted to be in the break today but his high placing overall (9th) was hindering him from getting away and he was closely marked by the Uno-X team protecting their leader’s GC interests. This would be the theme of the day – GC interests vs the breakaway.
All the attacking and counter measures in the peloton saw Asgreen brought back into the fold and then the rain invited itself into the race.
Rain, lumpy terrain & a fast start
The super fast start was doing damage at the back of the race with most sprinters dropped but not Kaden Groves (Alpecin) & Jake Stewart (Israel). These two were off the front in a group of 13 riders in what looked like being the break of the day.
The problem with the 13 was that amongst the group there was also the 11th on GC in the move, Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) and Jayco weren’t happy with the move and started chasing.
The 13 riders of the break
The group pulled their lead out to more than 2m30s though, helped by the fact that Jayco only had one rider working – Mauro Schmid – the rest of the Jayco boys were dropped and over 10 minutes down and Ben O’Connor’s 10th place on GC was looking shaky.
Every rider in the break told Jegat to drop back to the peloton but he wasn’t listening and instead he attacked solo on the climb of the 2nd Category climb, Côte de Thésy and he was quickly joined by a very strong looking Harry Sweeny (EF).
The Aussie/French duo of Sweeny & Jegat on the attack
Over the top of the climb this duo had a 30 second lead and a 4 minute lead over the peloton. Jegat was riding into 10th overall and also going for the stage!
The young Frenchman went through a difficult period with 55km remaining though and he couldn’t hold Sweeny’s wheel. The Aussie EF man was now on his own and in a difficult situation. He had just over 30 seconds lead over his former breakaway companions but more than 50 km remaining. Could he hold on solo?
Sweeny on his own with 50km remaining
Sweeny wasn’t calculating his efforts and increased his lead to more than a minute while the break behind splintered in their chase. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma) & Tim Wellens (UAE) were marking each other and had been dropped from the group and so when the group caught Sweeny it was now only 11 up front – but not for long.
Attacks, counter attacks and a terrible crash for Ivan Romeo (Movistar) saw the group split and reform many times and suddenly it was Frank Van den Broek (Picnic) who was off the front with the two sprinters, Kaden Groves (Alpecin) & Jake Stewart (Israel) with 20km to go.
An unlikely trio
Van den Broek didn’t want to work with the sprinters though and without meaning to, Groves found himself solo with 15km remaining. He didn’t attack, the gap simply opened and Stewart refused to go through. Van den Broek refused too and suddenly the Aussie sprinter found himself with a hilly and wet time trial to do if he were to take the stage.
Groves had proved on the climbs that he was strong today and he never faltered, duly riding to a rare solo win for a sprinter and taking his spot in the exclusive club of riders who have won a stage in all 3 Grand Tours.
Back in the peloton Ben O’Connor had been pulling solo, trying to save his 10th on GC but he couldn’t do it and Jordan Jegat would move into 10th on GC by the end of the stage.
It was an up and down day for the Aussies – Groves soloing to an amazing victory but O’Connor losing his 10th place on GC
Stage 20 Results:
1 Groves Kaden Alpecin – Deceuninck 4:06:09
2 van den Broek Frank Team Picnic PostNL @ 0:54
3 Eenkhoorn Pascal Soudal Quick-Step @ 0:59
4 Velasco Simone XDS Astana Team @ 1:04
5 Grégoire Romain Groupama – FDJ ,,
6 Stewart Jake Israel – Premier Tech ,,
7 Jegat Jordan Team TotalEnergies ,,
8 Wellens Tim UAE Team Emirates – XRG ,,
9 Jorgenson Matteo Team Visma | Lease a Bike ,,
10 Sweeny Harry EF Education – EasyPost ,,
11 Trentin Matteo Tudor Pro Cycling Team @ 2:01
12 Costiou Ewen Arkéa – B&B Hotels @ 3:45
13 Ballerini Davide XDS Astana Team @ 7:04
14 Teunissen Mike XDS Astana Team 10 ,,
15 Abrahamsen Jonas Uno-X Mobility ,,
GC After Stage 20:
1 Pogačar Tadej UAE Team Emirates – XRG 73:54:59
2 Vingegaard JonasTeam Visma | Lease a Bike @ 4:24
3 Lipowitz Florian Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe @ 11:09
4 Onley Oscar Team Picnic PostNL @12:12
5 Gall Felix Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team @ 17:12
6 Johannessen Tobias Halland Uno-X Mobility @ 20:14
7 Vauquelin Kévin Arkéa – B&B Hotels @ 22:35
8 Roglič Primož Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe @ 25:30
9 Healy Ben EF Education – EasyPost @ 28:02
10 Jegat Jordan Team TotalEnergies @ 32:42
11 O’Connor Ben Team Jayco AlUla @ 34:34
12 Arensman Thymen INEOS Grenadiers @ 52:41
13 Narváez Jhonatan UAE Team Emirates – XRG @ 1:04:36
14 Higuita Sergio XDS Astana Team @ 1:08:19
15 Yates Simon Team Visma | Lease a Bike @ 1:17:30
The post TOUR’25 Stage 20: Groves solo! appeared first on PezCycling News.
