Ethan Vernon (Israel Premier Tech): “It’s always a bit bittersweet to be second but when there’s a jersey [white] it’s a bit nicer. Obviously, it would have been nice to win the race and get the red jersey, that was the goal, but when you see Jasper [Philipsen] on the startline it’s never an easy task. And in the end, I was ahead of Mads [Pedersen] and some other great sprinters so it was a good performance. [Philipsen] is obvisouly super fast and one of the best sprinters in the world, so it’s never gonna be easy, but in the end I was quite happy with the speed. It’s a long tour, with a lot of climbing so a lot changes in the second, third week. There’s not many chances for sprinters but there are a few more opportunities coming, including on my birthday [26 August, stage 4]!”
