Kaden Groves defends himself after admitting to causing crash at Giro d’Italia which took Mark Cavendish out

Australian cyclist Kaden Groves has admitted that he “indeed elbowed” Soudal QuickStep’s Davide Ballerini leading to yesterday’s crash, just over three kilometres before the finish line of stage two at Giro d’Italia, which took Mark Cavendish out of competition for the final sprint, with stage one winner Remco Evenepoel blaming Groves for the move.

The 24-year old, participating in his first Giro, was in the middle of the peloton bunched up with other Alpecin riders leading the pack, when he made a big switch towards the right side in a defensive move against Ballerini, causing the crash.

Evenepoel, who’s still leading the general classification after dominating the time-trial stage on the opening day, managed to avoid the crash. Jumbo-Visma’s Primož Roglič, one of Evenepoel’s main competitors and another strong contender to take the maglia rosa also came out unscathed.

However, British sprinter and two-time points classification winner at Tour de France, Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan Team) unfortunately got caught up in the crash and lost out on a chance to fight for the stage victory in the final kilometres of the race.

Good footage to see what happened @giroditalia. Groves elbow contacts Ballerini who is overlapping wheel in front. Switch goes through bunch, DSM rider rear right looks behind & doesn’t see it coming - that’s where crash occurs. Ackerman not involved & not at fault - apologies pic.twitter.com/pef8yV6cLU

— Robbie McEwen AM (@mcewenrobbie) May 7, 2023

After the crash yesterday, Evenepoel had said that Groves’ manoeuvre to the right “wasn’t nice” and was the “cause of the crash”.

However, Alpecin-Deceuninck disputed Evenepoel’s claims, saying that Groves cannot be accused of any wrongdoing and that the Australian had fears of being boxed in along with worries of crashing into the barriers.

Cavendish and Evenepoel discussing the crash after Giro d'Italia stage two (by Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

Now today, Groves, also in contention for the stage win yesterday, has said that everything Evenepoel said was correct. “I did indeed push Ballerini with my elbow. I felt that he was closing me into the barriers on the left. It was a defensive move, I pushed back,” he said.

He added: “He then proceeded to touch the wheel of Joseph Cerny, losing balance. And with this chain reaction of events, there was a crash from behind.

“It’s a shame but I think it happens in sports. In sprinting this move happens 100 times and unfortunately yesterday it resulted in a crash. Everyone’s going to believe what they want to believe at the end of the day. The footage is also unclear… but this is how I saw it.”

Yesterday's big crash at the Giro d'Italia is even scarier from this angle 👀

Thankfully nobody seems to have been seriously hurt.#GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/eFHO4bWbFv

— Eurosport (@eurosport) May 8, 2023

Besides Cavendish, one of the favourites to win the second stage, the crash caught some other contenders out as well, including Britain’s Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) and Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost), UAE Team Emirates’ Brandon McNulty and Jay Vine, as well as Trek Segafredo’s Mads Pederson.

The stage was eventually won by Jonathan Milan of Bahrain-Victorious, winning a Grand Tour stage for the first-time in his first Grand Tour race. Groves, who Alpecin-Deceuninck had been trying to set up for the win all afternoon, came third.

Pundits Dan Lloyd and Robbie McEwen however lent their support to Groves. “I hope for Kaden, it doesn’t affect him while he's racing and how he races, and I hope for him that he can actually channel the anxiety he’s feeling into a good result today [Monday]. What a comeback that would be, or a response, to sprint for the win,” said McEwen.

To me, this is cinema 🍿#GirodItalia #Giro pic.twitter.com/DNESt4NTu8

— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 7, 2023

Lloyd agreed that Groves would feel the pressure after Evenepoel namechecked him, but hoped that it did not overwhelm him with the majority of the event in Italy to come.

He explained: “It's normal to be flustered as well, when the race leader calls you out in a press conference post-race, and you’re trying to think back to exactly what happened then look at those grainy overhead shots.

“So he obviously knows he’s going to be asked this question and he's teeing himself up for that. I just hope he can get himself beyond that.”

> Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2023: Remco Evenepoel wins for a second year, after Demi Vollering completes the Ardennes Triple

Meanwhile, Cavendish will also look to bounce back himself. The 37-year-old Manxman, widely regarded as one of the best sprinters in the history, has 16 stage wins to his name at the Giro.

Last week, former cyclist Jens Voigt had said that he believed Cavendish, who joined Astana from Soudal Quick-Step in 2023, will need at least two stage wins at the Giro d’Italia to convince his new team to give him a spot in their Tour de France squad.