On paper, the second stage of the Tour of Catalonia seemed like the easiest of the week, but the race organizers had included two tough climbs in the middle of the route to test the peloton.

With over 80 kilometers still to go after cresting the final climb, a sprint finish appeared inevitable—and that’s exactly what happened. Brennan positioned himself well in the run-up to the sprint, following the wheel of Kaden Groves. Vernon looked set to take a comfortable victory on the slightly uphill finishing straight, but Brennan came charging up fast and almost caught him. In the end, the young Brit had to settle for second place.

“It was a chaotic finale today”, Brennan said. “But we still managed to position ourselves well. I was in the right wheel heading into the final few hundred meters. I got boxed in for a moment but found a gap. Unfortunately, I hit top speed just a fraction too late to take the win.”

Despite the near miss, Brennan remained positive. “It was amazing to ride in the leader’s jersey. I’m super grateful to the team for all the work they put in. I struggled a bit on the climb earlier in the stage, but having a great champion like Sepp Kuss pacing you up the mountain gives you such a huge mental boost. We came so close to winning for the second day in a row. We’ll take the positives from today into the next few stages”, the 19-year-old said, looking ahead to the coming days.