As expected, the 2nd stage of the Tour of Catalonia was played in the sprint, and it was the Briton Ethan Vernon who won, in front of his compatriot Matthew Brennan, who remains at the top of the general classification. French Axel Laurance ended up at the foot of the podium.
Beautiful day for British cycling this Tuesday on the Tour de Catalonia! Ethan Vernon triumphed during the final massive sprint, and ahead of his compatriot Matthew Brennan, who won the first stage on Monday. The Israel runner – Premier Tech was preceded by Kaden Groves and Brennan in the last hectometers, but he arose at the last moment to go on the line on the line.
At 24, he won the twelfth victory of his career, the fifth on the World Tour, and the second on the Tour de Catalonia, where he had raised arms for the first time in 2022. Matthew Brennan consoles this defeat by keeping the leader jersey, six seconds ahead of Kaden Groves. The Frenchman of Ineos Grenadiers Axel Laurance (23 years old) took a good fourth place, his best result of the season.
A breakaway of three runners
This stage, which we knew was likely to arrive at the sprint despite the two ribs in the 80th and 100th kilometers, saw the breakaway of the day form after only two kilometers. Calum Johnson (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Diego Uriarte (Kern Pharma) and Danny Van der Tuuk (Euskaltel-Euskadi) went to the outposts and collaborated well to count up to 4’05 in advance.
But the Visma-Lease A Bike and Alpecin-Deceuninck teams worked to come back to them, and they were taken up one by one between the 95th and the 110th kilometer. Despite some attempts then, it is a peloton of 110 runners who played the stage victory. On Wednesday, things will be bodied, with a 218 -kilometer stage and an arrival at the top of the Molina, and its 12.2km ascent at 4.4% average.
World Tour / Tour de Catalonia (Spain)
Ranking of the 2nd stage (Banyoles – Figueres, 180.5km) – Tuesday March 25, 2025
1- Ethan Vernon (GBR / Israel-Prime Tech) and 4h16’16
2- Matthew Brennan (GBR / Visma-laise a bike) Mt
3- Groves (aus / Alpecin-deceuninck) Mt
4- Axel LAURANCE (from / ineos grenadiers) Mt
5- Pavel Bittner (RTC / Picnic Postnl) Mt
6- Dorian Godon (FRA/Decathlon-Agr2 La Mondiale) Mt
7- Marijn van den Berg (PBS / EF Education Easypost) Mt
8- Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Pol / Cofidis) Mt
9- Dion Smith (NZL/Intermarché-Wanty) Mt
10- Anders Folder (Dan / Jayco alula) Mt
…
General classification (after 2 stages out of 7)
1- Matthew Brennan (GBR / Visma-laise a bike) in 8:41’17
2- Groves (aus / Alpecin-deceuninck) at 6 ″
3- Tibor del Grosso (PBS / Alpecin-Deceuninck) at 12 ″
4- Enric Mas (ESP / Movistar) at 12 ″
5- Juan Ayuso (ESP / Emirates UAE) at 13 ″
6- Primoz Roglic (SLO / Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)
7- Dorian Godon (FRA/Decathlon-Agr2 La Mondiale) at 16 ″
8- Andrea Vandrame (Ita/Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale) at 16 ″
9- Junior Lecerf (Bel/Sudal-Quick Step) at 16 ″
10- Pavel Bittner (RTC / Picnic Postnl) Mt
…
