Israel – Premier Tech’s spectacular end to the 2024 season continued on Friday as Ethan Vernon doubled up at the Tour of Guangxi.
Two days after Corbin Strong won the Giro del Veneto and 24 hours after Vernon claimed his first UCI WorldTour victory in IPT colors in China, the British rider sprinted to an even more impressive victory on stage 4 in Jinchengjiang.
Vernon says: “I think that sometimes that first victory gives you the confidence you need, and you can back it up. I’ve had that a couple of times in my career now, where I’ve won back-to-back races. When you get the morale and the momentum going it leads to great results. I’m super happy with another win.”
The hardest stage of this year’s race to date was held under uncomfortably hot and humid conditions. A four-rider breakaway formed shortly after KM0 and it took a committed effort from IPT to bring the last of the quartet back with approximately 2.5 kilometers remaining. From there, the IPT train sprung into life, and after Vernon hit the front only one winner looked likely.
“It was a real team performance,” says DS Sep Vanmarcke. “Chris [Froome] and Guy [Sagiv] rode most of the day alone on the front, and they did it well. They controlled a very strong four-man breakaway.
“Later in the stage Nadav [Raisberg] also joined in with the work, and other teams started helping us out. Joe [Blackmore] then helped bring back the final few seconds.”
Vernon also singled out compatriot and teammate Jake Stewart for delivering another impressive lead-out.
“Every time he’s nailed it – I can trust him to deliver me to the right place, and I can’t wait to keep building on that going into next year, and to see if we can make it into a successful little duo,” he says.
Just behind Vernon, Riley Pickrell placed seventh. For the second day running, the finish line photos show Stewart celebrating a teammate’s victory: a picture-perfect ending to a textbook performance.
“Ethan showed how strong he is – a few guys tried to come alongside him but they couldn’t,”says Vanmarcke. “That, together with a seventh place for Riley and the way we kept the GC together going into tomorrow’s crucial stage for Joe means we’re really happy.”
One small disappointment came when the race commissaires gave Vernon a 20-second time penalty, which meant he relinquished the red leader’s jersey.
Vanmarcke adds: “Unfortunately, we lost the jersey because of a penalty during the stage. We have to accept it, but we’re obviously really happy with the second stage win, and now we look to the GC tomorrow.”
