Sport
Australian Kaden Groves won the 4th stage of the Tour of Catalonia in a sprint, ahead of Frenchman Bryan Coquard. Primoz Roglic remains at the top of the general classification ahead of Remco Evenepoel.
Sprinters don’t have many opportunities to shine on the Tour of Catalonia, where climbers have a field day, and Kaden Groves didn’t miss it! The 24-year-old Australian won the massive sprint that took place in the streets of Sabadell, to claim the tenth victory of his career, the second in this event after having already won last year during the arrival in Perpignan. The rider from Alpecin-Deceuninck, very well led by his team, overtook the Frenchman Bryan Coquard, who came very close to his second success of the season on this occasion. The New Zealander Corbin Strong was strong, and he completes the podium of the day.
Sport The French in force at La Molina
If this stage ended in a sprint, it had started strong, with the ascent of La Molina, classified in the first category, and it was four Frenchmen who took the lead at the top: Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R-Citroën), Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ), Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) and Romain Bardet (DSM). Martin will also wear the best climber’s jersey on Friday. A few kilometers later, the breakaway of the day formed, with David De La Cruz (Astana-Qazakstan), Nans Peters (AG2R-Citroën), Christopher Juul-Jensen (Jayco-AlUla), Roger Adria (Kern Pharma) and Torsten Traeen (Uno-X), and they had a lead of just over three minutes at most.
Under the impetus of Cofidis and Alpecin-Deceuninck, the gap fell, and the fugitives were finally caught up in the last kilometers. Arriving at the same time but eleven places ahead of Remco Evenepoel, Primoz Roglic keeps his leader’s jersey with the same time as the world champion. But things should change on Friday, with the arrival at the top of Tortosa and its 8.6 kilometers at 8.8% average.
WORLD TOUR / CATALONIA TOUR (SPAIN)
Classification of the 4th stage (Llivia – Sabadell, 188.2km) – Thursday March 23, 2023
1- Kaden Groves (AUS/Alpecin-Deceuninck) and 4h19’37
2- Bryan Coquard (FRA/Cofidis) mt
3- Corbin Strong (NZL/Israël-Premier Tech) mt
4- Ide Schelling (PBS/Bora-Hangrohe) mt
5- Clément Venturini (FRA/AG2R-Citroën) mt
6- Frederik Wandahl (DAN/Bora-Hasngrohe) mt
7- Jon Aberasturi (ESP/Trek-Segafredo) mt
8- Milan Menten (BEL/Lotto Dstny) mt
9- Arne Marit (BEL/Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) mt
10- Simone Velasco (ITA/Astana Qazakstan) mt
…
General classification (after 4 out of 7 stages)
1- Primoz Roglic (SLO/Jumbo-Visma) a 17h01’54
2- Remco Evenepoel (BEL/Soudal-Quick Step) mt
3- Giulio Ciccone (ITA/Trek-Segafredo) at 19″
4- Mikel Landa (ESP/Bahrain-Victorious) at 44″
5- Joao Almeida (POR/UAE Emirates) at 44″
6- Michael Woods (CAN/Israel-Premier Tech) at 48″
7- Jai Hindley (AUS/Bora-Hoasngrohe) at 48″
8- Stephen Chaves (COL/EF Education-EastPost) at 48′′
9- Cian Uijtdebroecks (BEL/Bora-Hansgrohe) from 58″
10- Marc Soler (ESP/UAE Emirates) at 1’12
…
13- Romain Bardet (FRA/DSM) at 2’05
…
