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.
His win takes his tally of WorldTour wins up to five, with his first professional victory also coming at the Volta a Catalunya three years ago. His other major successes have come at the Tour de Romandie and the Tour of Guangxi, winning two stages of the latter at the end of last season.
The British rider has not had the easiest approach to this season, as he broke his collarbone in December and has had to build his form gradually as the season has progressed.
“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.
After 2024 included the Paris Olympics (where he was a silver medallist in the team pursuit with Great Britain), the 24-year-old is keen to begin delivering consistent results for his professional team on the road.
“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.”
The 2028 World Championships in Abu Dhabi could certainly present the perfect opportunity for such a team, with the likes of Ethan Hayter, Fred Wright, Sam Watson and Matthew Walls also options for what is expected to be a flat course.
For this season, though, Vernon will look to build upon his success at the Volta a Catalunya as he concludes his Spring Classics campaign at the Scheldeprijs next Wednesday.
