On a drama-packed day of joy and calamity for the Australian challenge at the Giro d'Italia, Kaden Groves has sprinted to glory in Naples but only after former winner Jai Hindley had been forced to abandon the race concussed following a mass crash.
Queenslander Groves, the speed king from Gympie, powered to an emphatic win on stage six -- his ninth victory in Grand Tours -- on Thursday after the sprint denouement featured a protester running towards the massed bunch, who thankfully managed to avoid another disaster.
That was exactly what the race didn't need after a sickening crash earlier on a wet road caused when 2022 winner Hindley, one of only two Australians ever to win a Grand Tour, came down heavily in the peloton, with a domino effect of riders tumbling behind him.
