The Brits continued to pay homage to Catalonia on Tuesday, as Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) outsprinted Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) to win his first race of the season.
Vernon, who earned his first skilled win on the Volta a Catalunya in 2022, was the quickest in Figueres on stage two, holding off the opening day’s teenage winner.
The finale performed out on quick, vast roads, with Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) main the dash round a right-bending ending straight. Vernon then got here across the exterior, stretching out a bonus and successful by a wheel’s size.
“I’m beginning to like this race. It’s bringing some good recollections,” the 24-year-old smiled afterwards.
“We got here with momentum about 2km to go, with a full practice, and we arrange completely for the tip. It was actually chaotic. I believe we will need to have been going 80km/h plus on the finish there. With the tailwind, it was super-fast. In the long run, it suited me.”
Vernon seemed to be in issue midway by the 180km stage, which, though billed as a dash day, nonetheless counted virtually 2,000m of climbing. The peloton had two climbs to traverse, together with the category-one Coll de Sant Pere de Rodes (7.7km at 6.3%).
“It wasn’t a straightforward day,” the Brit stated. “I believe [Lidl-]Trek and another groups made it arduous on the climb, so I suffered a bit then. However I got here again, due to the job of Itamar [Einhorn], my teammate, who introduced me again in an excellent situation.”
Regardless of the presence of Groves, a seven-time Vuelta a España stage winner, Brennan was the favorite going into the dash after his heroics on stage one. The 19-year-old claimed a spectacular maiden WorldTour victory on Monday, when he closed the hole to a lone escapee and held off the peloton on an uphill drag.
Brennan’s victory marked 4 wins in a row for the Visma-Lease a Bike neo professional. Second place on stage two meant he prolonged his race lead by two seconds; he now leads Groves by six seconds.
Wednesday’s third stage on the Volta a Catalunya brings a mountain day with the race’s first summit end, atop La Molina. It’s, on paper, the hardest of the seven phases, with virtually 5,000m to climb.
