It's only March, but Caden Groves' third place finish in the second stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico means that BikeExchange-Jayco riders have already been on the podium as much this season as last. And this time around, he has added speed and consistency to his game, earning his first top-three finish in a World Tour-level race.

Groves' development into a sprinter capable of competing in top-class races is part of a growing sprinting prowess in the Australian-based team. Bike Exchange Jayco returned Michael Matthews last season and added Dylan Groenewegen this year.

However, the 23-year-old Groenewegen, who competed alongside Matthews in Tirreno-Adriatico, made the WorldTour podium for the first time this year. Matthews, a well-regarded sprinter, prefers fast finishes where the tough terrain in front of the line causes selection.

"I have to thank the riders and the team for giving me the opportunity to sprint today," he said. I've been very consistent this year and to be on the podium today, my first podium on the World Tour, makes me very happy."

Groves has been with the team since late 2019, but has faced many injury setbacks along the way; late in the 2021 season, he took his first European win in the prologue of the 2.1-ranked Tour of Slovakia, then finished second in the third stage of that race and twice on the Cro race In November, the team announced that it had signed him to another year, and team general manager Brent Copeland said at the time that the team was looking forward to Groves and his continued development, "helping him to become one of the best sprinters in the peloton. help him."

The start of this season seems to prove the team's faith in this fast-growing rider. At the Tour of Oman, Groves started the day in third place on stage 1 and finished second on stages 2 and 6. In the Tour of Oman, Groves started stage 1 in 3rd place and finished 2nd in stages 2 and 6.

Stage 2 was the first chance for sprinters in Tirreno-Adriatico, which started with a time trial, but Caleb Yuan (Lotto Soudal) and Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers) and others had a hectic run-in on narrow roads and The finish was perhaps not as expected by some players, as they lost the lead train. Peter Sagan (Total Energies) jumped out early toward the Sovisil finish line, and Tim Merlier (Alpecin Phoenix) jumped out from behind, followed by Groves, who had already begun to pick up the pace.

Merlier held his position up front, but Olaf Couey (Jumbo Visma) closed in fast on Groves' left side. Groves, however, held off fourth-placed Sagan to claim his first WorldTour podium.

"Every player would be proud of today's performance." Now we can look forward to the rest of the week ahead." He said.

Stage 3 enters Umbria and finishes in Terni. Then, on the final day, a group sprint will take place on the mostly flat course around San Benedetto del Tronto.