114: WINNER IN ALL THREE GRAND TOURS!
Winning a Tour de France stage for the first time, Kaden Groves becomes the 114th rider to have raises his arms in all three Grand Tours. The Australian has won seven Vuelta stages, two Giro stages, and one Tour stage. The 113th to join this list was Tim Wellens thanks to his victory in Carcassone six days ago.
4: ANOTHER "NEO" WINNER
After Jonathan Milan (stages 8 and 17), Thymen Arensman (stages 14 and 19), and Valentin Paret-Peintre (stage 16), Kaden Groves is the 4th Tour newcomer to win this year. Four "neo" becoming Tour winners, like in 2023 (Jai Hindley, Carlos Rodriguez, Félix Gall, Jordi Meeus). He is the 863rd rider to win a Tour stage.
2002: TWO DUTCHMEN ON THE PODIUM
The Dutch riders Frank Van den Broek (2nd) and Pascal Eenkhoorn (3rd) both achieved their 2nd Tour stage podiums. Frank finished 2nd in Rimini last year, Pascal 2nd in Bourg-en-Bresse in 2023. This is the first time there have been two Dutch riders in the top-3 since Plouay 2002, 23 years ago, and the hat-trick of Karsten Kroon, Servais Knaven, and Erik Dekker!
40: AUSTRALIA WINS, AGAIN!
Kaden Groves gives Australia its 40th victory, two days after Ben O'Connor's triumph at the Col de la Loze. Two wins in three days, a first since 2006, when Robbie McEwen won in Esch-sur-Alzette (July 3), Saint-Quentin (July 5), and Vitré (July 7). The last Tour with two Australian victories was the 2022 edition (Simon Clarke in Arenberg; Michael Matthews in Mende).
14: A NEW WINNER FOR ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK
Alpecin-Deceuninck claimed its 14th Tour victory, but Kaden Groves is only the 4th different rider to lead the team to victory. He joins a list that includes Jasper Philipsen (10 wins with the team), Mathieu van der Poel (2), and Tim Merlier (1). This is the 3rd Alpecin-Deceuninck victory in this Tour – and with 3 different riders – after stages 1 (Philipsen) and 2 (van der Poel).
3: BRAVE AUSTRALIANS
Present in the breakaway and leading the Côte de Thésy, the toughest climb of the stage (category 2), Harry Sweeny received his first combativity award. He's the third Australian to do it after his compatriots Michael Storer (stage 15) and Ben O'Connor (stage 18). It makes Australia the second country with the most combativity awards, behind France (9).
3: POLKA-DOT JERSEY FOR POGACAR
There are only 5 points left for the moutains classification. Leader Tadej Pogacar has a 13-point lead over second-place Jonas Vingegaard. By reaching the finish line tomorrow, the Slovenian will win his 3rd polka dot jersey after 2020 and 2021, as many as Eddy Merckx and Julio Jimenez. Richard Virenque (7), Federico Bahamontes (6), and Lucien Van Impe (6) are the only riders to have won this classification more than three times.
80: GREEN JERSEY SECURED FOR MILAN
With an 80-point lead over Tadej Pogacar and 70 points remaining tomorrow, Jonathan Milan is mathematically guaranteed to win the points classification. The Italian still needs to cross the finish line on Sunday to confirm his first green jersey triumph. He would be the 7th different winner in the last seven years (2019-2025), a streak not seen since 2006-2012. Milan can become the first "néo" to win the points classification since Peter Sagan in 2012.
