Queensland cycling ace Kaden Groves has been pipped for victory in the opening stage of the Volta a Catalunya, edged out astonishingly on the first stage of the celebrated Spanish tour by one of the sport's brightest new teenage stars.
Matthew Brennan, a power-packed 19-year-old British prospect, proved just too strong for Australia's eight-time grand-tour stage winner in an exhausting and enthralling run-in at the end of a tough, rain-sodden opening 178.6km stage around Sant Feliu de Guixols in the north-east of Spain.
Groves looked set for his first win of the year as he and the 19-year-old Brennan gradually hauled in Tibor Del Grosso, who had made an audacious break on a wet descent away from his Aussie Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate and Brennan two kilometres from home.
