Ethan Hayter disappointed to surrender Tour of Britain title on final day

Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) has spoken of his disappointment at missing out on the overall win at the Tour of Britain, after he went into the final stage with a four-second lead over Jumbo-Visma rider Wout van Aert. 

Belgian Van Aert ultimately managed to overturn the deficit by winning the stage in Aberdeen, which handed him ten bonus seconds.

Van Aert snatched victory from the Brit by passing André Greipel (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) in the sprint, as Hayter could only cross the line in 11th. 

The Ineos Grenadiers man still achieved second in the general classification though, an impressive performance that included a stage victory on day five. While Hayter is disappointed he couldn't maintain his lead on the final stage, he expressed that there are positives to take from the Tour.

"I'm a bit disappointed obviously to lose on the last day but I can be very happy with this week," said Hayter.

"With winning the team time trial and the stage in Manchester, finishing second between Van Aert and Alaphilippe is pretty good. I think it's been a really good edition of the Tour of Britain. 

"There have been some really hard days. [Van Aert] has won four stages so it's probably fair enough that he wins the GC to be honest. This race and the whole year has been amazing for me. I've won quite a lot of races, and second overall here is really nice."

Regardless of letting the opportunity to win the Tour of Britain slip, the Olympic silver medallist is clearly trying to stay positive, and is now looking forward to the World Championships. 

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"The Road World Championships are next. I'm doing the time trial next week and then the road race the week after. I'm really looking forward to that - we've got a good team for the road race so it's going to be fun I think."