Ethan Hayter says he's 'up against it' as he leads Tour of Britain into queen stage
Ineos Grenadiers took stage three team time trial and now sit first and second in the overall standings
Ethan Hayter say he and his team will be 'up against it' on the queen stage of the Tour of Britain as he looks to hold onto his race leadership.
Ineos Grenadiers put in a strong display in the team time trial from Llandeilo to the National Botanic Garden of Wales, as they beat Deceuninck - Quick-Step by 17 seconds.
Hayter now leads his team-mate, Rohan Dennis by six seconds with stage one winner Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) a further 10 seconds back in the general classification.
Speaking after the stage, Hayter said: "I think all six riders just gave everything and pulled off a really good team time trial and that’s really satisfying.
"It’ll actually be pretty hard leading this race for the next five days. It’s going to be super tough racing and really hard to control as Jumbo-Visma showed yesterday [stage two]. We’ll be up against it, but to have 16 seconds… It’s better to be ahead 16 seconds than behind and we’ll try and do what we can over the next few days.
"Yeah it was a good effort, I’ve finished fourth and second over the last two days so not bad at all, so hopefully I’ll just keep getting better."
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
The UK-based team came to the line with the needed four riders, as Dennis and Hayter finished with Richie Porte and Carlos Rodriguez, after Owain Doull and Michał Kwiatkowski were dropped on a short climb in the final third of the stage.
Porte spoke of how well the team gelled on the course after the race: "Hats off to Rohan Dennis today, he really got us across the line, incredibly strong. We’re motivated - it's our home race and it’s a great result.
“I don’t really know if we were favourites to be honest, but to win the stage is a great satisfaction. It’s nice for us to race in Wales and we’ll try and defend this jersey."
Ineos will likely face attacks from the likes of Van Aert, as well as the star duo from Deceuninck - Quick-Step Julian Alaphilippe and Mikkel Honoré, who both sit at 23 seconds in fourth and fifth place.
Israel Start-Up Nation's duo of Michael Woods and soon to be retiring Dan Martin are also both still in the fight with them sitting on the same time as each other, 49 seconds back from Hayter.
Stage four of the Tour of Britain is the 'queen stage' of the race, finishing atop the climb of the Great Orme just outside of Llandudno on the North Wales coast after a tough 210km.
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Hi, I'm one of Cycling Weekly's content writers for the web team responsible for writing stories on racing, tech, updating evergreen pages as well as the weekly email newsletter. Proud Yorkshireman from the UK's answer to Flanders, Calderdale, go check out the cobbled climbs!
I started watching cycling back in 2010, before all the hype around London 2012 and Bradley Wiggins at the Tour de France. In fact, it was Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck's battle in the fog up the Tourmalet on stage 17 of the Tour de France.
It took me a few more years to get into the journalism side of things, but I had a good idea I wanted to get into cycling journalism by the end of year nine at school and started doing voluntary work soon after. This got me a chance to go to the London Six Days, Tour de Yorkshire and the Tour of Britain to name a few before eventually joining Eurosport's online team while I was at uni, where I studied journalism. Eurosport gave me the opportunity to work at the world championships in Harrogate back in the awful weather.
After various bar jobs, I managed to get my way into Cycling Weekly in late February of 2020 where I mostly write about racing and everything around that as it's what I specialise in but don't be surprised to see my name on other news stories.
When not writing stories for the site, I don't really switch off my cycling side as I watch every race that is televised as well as being a rider myself and a regular user of the game Pro Cycling Manager. Maybe too regular.
My bike is a well used Specialized Tarmac SL4 when out on my local roads back in West Yorkshire as well as in northern Hampshire with the hills and mountains being my preferred terrain.
-
Most road cyclists still aren't riding tubeless - are latex or TPU tubes a better alternative?
Although common for gravel and mountain bikes, tubeless has still not fully taken off for road cycling; we examine why
By Paul Norman Published
-
Ineos Grenadiers’ 500th victory was claimed by a woman; why do they still not have a team?
The British squad is one of the richest in cycling - but Ineos still won’t stump up for a women’s team
By Adam Becket Published
-
Ineos Grenadiers’ 500th victory was claimed by a woman; why do they still not have a team?
The British squad is one of the richest in cycling - but Ineos still won’t stump up for a women’s team
By Adam Becket Published
-
'This is so much more than a number': Six of the best Ineos Grenadiers wins as team claims 500th race victory
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot took the 500th team win at the weekend
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Tom Pidcock 'wouldn’t be surprised' to see attacks before the Poggio at Milan-San Remo
British rider will lead the line for Ineos Grenadiers alongside Filippo Ganna
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Ineos Grenadiers delighted with Egan Bernal’s late cameo on stage one of Paris-Nice
Colombian snapped up key bonus seconds in the general classification battle on run in to Les Mureaux
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
‘It doesn’t change anything’ - Tom Pidcock’s coach on Tadej Pogačar at Strade Bianche
Kurt Bogaerts says the pressure is off for Pidcock as he looks to defend the title he emphatically won last year
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Wout van Aert and Visma-Lease a Bike left out of pocket by Tour of Britain organiser's collapse
Prize money for 2023 race unpaid, riders union says national federation must ‘bear the debts’ of previous organiser, SweetSpot
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Tour of Britain and Women's Tour future guaranteed by British Cycling, but women's race in doubt for 2024
National federation committed to ensuring men's and women’s races take place this year but CEO admits it is in a ‘race against the clock’ to put on women's event
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Ineos Grenadiers say they will work with British Cycling to get Tour of Britain back on ‘as quickly as possible’
Ben Swift and Owain Doull both say it would be a "shame" were the Tour of Britain to be no more
By Adam Becket Published