Kaden Groves grabs sprint victory at Volta a Catalunya

CTT

Kaden Groves edged Phil Bauhaus by half a wheel to win stage two of the Volta a Catalunya on Tuesday a day after his teammate Michael Matthews won the opening stage.

After a nervous wind-hit coastal run, Groves followed BikeExchange Matthews up the home straight in Perpignan and made a late leap with perfect timing. It was a first WorldTour stage win for the 23-year-old Australian.

“You can see we have a strong team here,” said Matthews. “And to be part of Kaden’s first victory means a lot to me”

“We targeted the win today,” Groves said after the race. “We did everything to stay in the front group in the wind, there was a late split and we held on. It was full gas”.

Jonas Hvideberg of DSM is in the overall lead by 1s from Matthews, who said he was more than happy with his stage win from Monday.

BikeExchange team leader Simon Yates however trailed home 30 seconds after the main group after a fall and a badly timed mechanical problem left him in the slower second group when a cross wind caused a split.

There was reassuring news from Bahrain Victorious a day after Sonny Colbrelli collapsed at the finish line on Monday after being edged by Matthews. According to the official statement of the race, Colbrelli experienced “an episode of loss of consciousness with convulsions and subsequent cardio-respiratory arrest”.

First-aid staff revived the rider at the finish line in the seaside town of Sant Feliu de Guixols, performed emergency treatment and used a defibrillator, the statement added.

The reigning European road race champion was then taken to hospital in nearby Girona and his team issued an update on Tuesday.

“After being admitted to Hospital Universitari de Girona… Sonny Colbrelli was conscious and feeling okay,” read their statement. “He has since been in touch with family and friends as he recovers at the hospital.”