British win again! Ethan Vernon wins Volta a Catalunya stage 2

Ethan Vernon has won the second stage of the Volta a Catalunya, sprinting ahead to beat the likes of Kaden Gorves and Matthew Brenann.

The action kicked off early on the latest stage of the Volta a Catalunya, with three riders jumping clear to form the day’s breakaway. Calum Johnston, Diego Uriarte and Danny van der Tuuk were the trio to go up the road, quickly carving out a gap of three minutes over the peloton.

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Their escape coincided with the approach to the first categorised climb of the day, the Coll Puig del Pení (4.8km at 5%), but the peloton was never far behind. Over the next 15 kilometres, the main bunch picked up the pace and steadily reeled in the attackers.

With 111 kilometres still to race, the gap had been slashed to under a minute, and by the time the riders reached around the 70km-to-go mark, the break had been swept up completely.

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Earlier in the day, Juan Ayuso showed his sharpness by taking top honours in the intermediate sprint, claiming valuable points and keeping his momentum going in what has already been an impressive start to the season for the young Spaniard.

With around 40 kilometres remaining, signs of suffering began to show in the bunch. British national champion Ethan Hayter, riding for Soudal–QuickStep, was spotted clinging to the back of the peloton, clearly struggling. It's not the first time this week that Hayter has appeared below his usual level, and with the pace continuing to rise, questions are beginning to surface about his condition.

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Around the 30km to go, Quinn Simmons tried his luck but the peloton would not let him establish a serious gap.

With 5km to go, the bunch was packed tightly together and it was clear that the race would be decided by a bunch sprint. But who would come out on top?

In the end, Kaden Groves was beaten again as Ethan Vernon took the win. Matthew Brennan was once again right in the mix in an exciting sprint.

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