Vernon wins sprint finish on shortened stage four of Volta a Catalunya

Britain’s Ethan Vernon won a sprint finish on a shortened stage four of the Volta a Catalunya.

The 25-year-old NSN Cycling Team rider surged to the front on the run-in to the line in Camprodon and comfortably held off France’s Dorian Godon, with fellow Briton Tom Pidcock in third.

Ineos Grenadiers’ Godon retains the overall lead, 13 seconds clear of Pidcock who has moved into second place, with Remco Evenepoel a further second back and two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard 24 seconds adrift.

“This is a special race for me, I had my first pro win here and our sponsor is also based here,” said Vernon.

“The change [in the route] calmed everything down, we knew last night and made the plan to come out of the last roundabout in first place and then go for it.”

Had the first of three Pyrenees stages concluded at the Vallter ski station as planned, it would likely have favoured the likes of Vingegaard and former Vuelta a Espana champion Evenepoel.

However, organisers scrapped the scheduled summit finish because of high winds, putting a different complexion on the stage which ended 22 kilometres before the original finish line, which would have come at the end of a brutal climb.