Ethan Vernon wins his third stage of 2026, denies Rockets another win

Ethan Vernon won the opening stage of the Région Pays de la Loire Tour on Tuesday afternoon. The first stage of the French stage race was decided by a sprint, in which the Brit from NSN Cycling Team proved to be the fastest. Erlend Blikra (Uno-X) finished second, EF talent Noah Hobbs third.

Between the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, alongside the Tour of the Basque Country and the Scheldeprijs, the Région Pays de la Loire Tour also features in a busy weekon the cycling calendar. The French four-day race with .Pro classification was won last year by Kévin Vauquelin, who has since departed for INEOS.

This year, the organisation could count on five WorldTour teams, namely EF (who started with only four riders), Groupama-FDJ, Decathlon, Uno-X and NSN. In addition, Unibet Rose Rockets were also at the start on Tuesday morning. Bas Tietema's team had Clément Venturini among their ranks — a rider who has already won this year.

The French stage race began on Tuesday with an almost entirely flat stage between Fontevraud-l'Abbaye and Vertou, near Nantes. In the final phase, five laps of a local circuit had to be completed, although with just a few corners it would be very straightforward. In total, the stage therefore came to 187 and a half kilometres.

A group of seven riders quickly rode away and among them was Dutchman Axel van der Tuuk. The Euskaltel-Euskadi rider was joined by Lander Loockx (Unibet Rose Rockets) among others, and the early breakaway was therefore quickly formed. The peloton was happy to let the septet extend its lead to several minutes.

However the escapees were not given too much time, thanks to Decathlon and NSN taking on the chase. Slowly but surely the peloton closed in on the breakaway. With fifteen kilometres to go, it was all over for the leading group.

The peloton was by that point already in full sprint preparation and the pace went through the roof. Vernon was the fastest from the sprinting peloton, claiming the first leader's jersey as well as the stage honours.

Vernon adds the win in France to his 2026 tally, including the Tour Down Under and Tour of Catalonia. His form is spot on!