Ethan Vernon: "It’s great to taste victory again and the first leader’s jersey I wear in my career"

Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team managed to clinch the top three positions in the opening stage of the Tour of Slovakia. It was a race against time in which Ethan Vernon proved to be the best and finished the race in a record time of 7 minutes and 33 seconds.

I’m really happy. It’s great to taste victory again and be on the podium together with two teammates," expressed the stage winner. Though few would have predicted his victory, no one could have predicted Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl would also take second and third position.

Watching his teammates share the podium with him gives him a sense of security and hope for the next stage. “That makes it a perfect start to the race for us. I knew I was in good form coming into the race because I trained well, I liked the course with those long straight lines, and I was helped also by my track background because it’s not easy to do a time trial on a road bike, but I could produce a solid effort,” said Vernon.

In his professional career, Vernon has only achieved two victories, both of them this year. He is excited to be wearing the leader’s jersey for the first time and plans to defend it till the final stage. “It’s the first leader’s jersey I wear in my career, and we’ll do our best to defend it on the next stage,” concluded Vernon.