Another victim of the early Giro crashes: Kaden Groves abandons during stage four

A huge blow for Alpecin-Premier Tech. The Belgian squad have lost Kaden Groves from the Giro d'Italia. The Australian sprinter arrived in Italy with stage wins firmly in his sights, only to be caught in the heavy crash in the stage one finale in Burgas. He tried to ride through the pain in the days that followed, but ultimately it proved impossible to continue. He abandoned mid-way through stage four.

Groves' build-up to the Giro had already been far from ideal. A knee injury in the spring forced him to miss a series of major races and classics. The 27-year-old Australian's last race before the start was Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on 1 March — a ten-week gap before the Grand Tour. Despite that, he and his team remained optimistic about their chances in Italy.

And on day one, the prize was within reach: the pink jersey was there for the taking for the fastest sprinters in Burgas. Groves and Alpecin-Premier Tech were hoping to strike immediately, but those hopes were brutally extinguished by the enormous crash in the final kilometre. The sprinter — who had already won two stages at previous Giro editions — was one of the biggest casualties.

He crossed the line covered in road rash. It was almost remarkable that he managed to line up for stage two at all. "It was a nasty crash, actually," he told CyclingPro.net before that stage. "I think it could have been a lot worse in the end and it's just some superficial injuries around the body, so we'll see how I do today. For sure I'll be a bit stiff, but I expect to be better on the bike." As it turned out, any chance of a result in the opening three days was entirely out of the question.

The rest day had seemed to come at just the right moment. With a little extra recovery time and care, it appeared Groves might be able to line up for stage four — the first Italian stage — with some renewed energy. But it was not to be. After around forty kilometres of racing, he stepped off his bike. Alpecin-Premier Tech have lost their team leader and will need to regroup and reshape their race for the coming three weeks.