Alepcin-Deceuninck have experienced the full range of emotions at this Tour de France. They won stages one and two, were in the yellow and green jerseys, but then their two star men, Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel, went home. The former with a broken collarbone and the latter with pneumonia.
Rebounding from such heavy exits would be a difficult talk for any of the Tour’s 23 teams but especially Alpecin. Their identity is Van der Poel and Philipsen, and they don’t make any attempt at pretending otherwise.
But as a weary, exhausted peloton heads to Paris and 14 teams remain winless, Alpecin picked up their third win of the race through sprinter-cum-rouleur Kaden Groves in Pontarlier on stage 20. Only Soudal Quick-Step (4) and UAE Team Emirates-XRG (5) have won more stages. It’s the team of Van der Poel and Philipsen, but Groves is more than a capable understudy; his win in the rolling hills of the Jura mountains ensured that he became the 114th rider to secure the trilogy of Grand Tour stage victories.
“I am incredibly happy and incredibly proud of this team,” the emotional Australian, 26, said at the finish. “We’ve had quite a rollercoaster Tour. On a personal note, I’ve not been sprinting super well – I’ve been missing raw speed – but in the third week of the Grand Tour, I finished the mountains well and today we thought I’d try my chance in the breakaway.”
What transpired – winning alone by 54 seconds after going free with 15km to go, when fellow escapees Frank van den Broek and Jake Stewart looked at one another – was an eventuality he had never thought possible. “I think that’s something that might not happen again for me – it’s incredible to win solo. It’s certainly a different emotion to a bunch sprint. In a bunch sprint you don’t have time to think, and today was a situation I’ve never been in before. I just focused on arriving to the line and thought that I’d enjoy it afterwards. The final kilometre was certainly not enjoyable.”
Groves’s last eight eight victories have all come in three-week races. He’s the man for the big stage – just like his departed leaders. “Having won in the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, all I ever get asked is, ‘am I good enough to win the Tour?’ And yeah, now I have them.”
“It’s almost unbelievable,” his team’s lead sports director Christoph Roodhooft commented. “We know he’s a strong rider but the way he did it was exceptional. We knew [winning stage 20] was within his possibilities but I have to be honest and say I did not really believe in it. But parcours-wise it was possible and he proved it. He’s more of a very strong rider than a pure sprinter. As a sprinter he doesn’t maybe have the highest speed that’s needed but as a normal rider he’s extremely strong.”
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And yet despite Alpecin’s latest triumph, there is a but. A thorn in their side, one that won’t dislodge itself. Deceuninck are withdrawing their title sponsorship at the end of this season after four years, and to date the Roodhooft brothers (Philip is the other) have been unable to find a replacement. They will be able to continue operating in 2026, but beyond that they can’t rely on only having Alpecin as their only named sponsor.
It’s indicative of cycling’s monetary landscape and economic model that the Tour’s third winningest team, and the squad of one of the most marketable and recognisable figures in the sport, face such financial struggles.
Will Groves’s win help their search, Roodhooft was asked. He looked at the reporter and walked off towards another interview, throwing his hands in the air. Today was not the time to discuss that, was the message, but he couldn’t help himself. “The fact that we have to look for one is maybe already an answer,” he eventually replied, clearly exasperated with the situation they find themselves in.
When Alpecin-Deceuninck party in Paris after stage 21, they’ll do so without their two talisman, but in Groves they’ve got a third player who is astute at winning the big prizes, too. Amidst the highs are deep concerns, but for they’ll try to park those fears for one extra day.
“I think we have to be very grateful for what we’ve achieved in this Tour de France,” Roodhooft added. “We worked hard for it of course but it’s unbelievable.” They may even bookend the Tour with two stage wins. “Hopefully I’ll have the legs for it,” Groves said of the Montmartre course in Paris. He definitely has the pedigree.
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