Groves at double in Catalunya, Roglic retains lead

Australian sprinter Kaden Groves won a second stage at this year’s Tour of Catalunya yesterday as he edged a mass bunch sprint for the line at Molins del Rei ahead of Frenchman Bryan Coquard.
Groves achieved the win on a teammate’s bike after getting a flat tyre on the run in and even fighting his way back to the rest of the peloton.
“(Stage win) number one was good and this was better,” said the sprinter.
“I felt the tyre go and wasn’t sure what to do, the team weren’t near enough to replace it so they told me to swap,” he added. On a largely flat 175km stage six, Remco Evenepoel did his best to take the overall lead by attacking Primoz Roglic on the day’s only real climb 20km from the finish.
Leader Roglic shadowed the young Belgian, and the pair ended the day with the Slovenian leading the Evenepoel by 10 seconds ahead of what promises to be a spectacular showdown seventh stage in Barcelona today.
Colombian Ineos rider Egan Bernal crashed out of the Tour when he was tangled in a four rider fall at the 80km mark.
Roglic must now survive Sunday’s draining run round downtown Barcelona which culminates in four repeated ascents of the Montjuic mountain.