After a difficult start to the year through injury, Ethan Vernon has begun to find his form and will take aim next week’s sprinters’ semi-Classic at the Scheldeprijs.
Coming from the track, where he has won World Championship titles in the team pursuit and elimination race, Vernon is a pure sprinter who can always rely on his ability to produce massive amounts of power in a bunch sprint. He also knows how to survive a hard race and then sprint against the best at Scheldeprijs.
His maiden win of the season came on stage 2 of last week’s Volta a Catalunya, as he powered to victory on the streets of Figueres in a close sprint finish.
“I really wanted to backend my season a bit. I had a really slow start with my broken collarbone in training camp. I missed a bit of training in December and January, so I was expected to struggle a bit in the early races in February,” he told Cyclingnews at the Volta a Catalunya.
“I’ve got a big backend to the programme, and hopefully I’ll do Dauphiné, Poland, Nationals and the Vuelta. I really have some big targets at the end of the year, so I wasn’t too stressed about having a bit of a slower winter.”
It’s also clear how important this year is to Vernon, as he is now in his second season with Israel-Premier Tech, having made the switch over from Soudal-QuickStep at the end of 2023.
“I really want to make this season a strong one. I missed a lot with the Olympics last year, so I really wanted to get back to winning ways on the road, and this week was a good step in that direction," he said.
Vernon wasn’t the only British rider to have success in Catalunya, as 19-year-old Matthew Brennan took two stage wins for his Visma-Lease a Bike team. Vernon was the only rider to get the better of Brennan in a sprint over the course of the week, as his young compatriot came up late to finish a close second behind him on stage 2.
Vernon was impressed by Brennan.
"He’s obviously a super-talent, he’s coming up very fast, and he’s a young guy. It’s good to see another British sprinter coming through,” he said.
“Looking ahead to future European and World Championships, it’s good that we’re starting to get a pretty good sprint team together with me, Matthew and even Jake Stewart as leadout. I think we could field a pretty good sprint squad for flatter Euros and Worlds in the future, so that’s good to see.”
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