'I just put it in my biggest gear and went flat out': Ethan Hayter on his first Tour of Britain stage win

The British rider has been on sparkling form this season taking his eighth win of the year in Warrington

Ethan Hayter celebrates after winning stage five of the Tour of Britain 2021
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Ethan Hayter continued to impress at the Tour of Britain 2021, winning the fifth stage and retaking the overall lead after he narrowly missed a late crash in the final kilometre.

Ineos Grenadiers' 22-year-old team leader put in a strong performance after managing to stay upright through the final corner which saw team-mate, Owain Doull hit the deck.

The crash helped Hayter hugely as both Nizzolo (Qhubeka-NextHash) and Cavendish (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) both had to work hard to get back to the leading group with the now-former race leader Wout van Aert getting delayed by the late spill.

>>> Wout van Aert says he's 'happy he made it to the finish in one piece' after avoiding late Tour of Britain crash

Following the stage Hayter said: "The last 30 or 40 kilometres got quite hectic when it started raining. I knew most of [the route] all day which helped quite a lot. 

"We kept ourselves in a really good position in the top 20, not quite in the wind. Richie [Porte] did a good job for that stint. The guys were amazing and all I had to do was just finish it off."

Hayter spoke about how avoiding Doull's crash was "kind of like slow motion" as they sped into the final corner on the wet and slippery roads. Hayter managed to squeeze through by the barriers before sprinting to victory from a reduced group.

"I think I did a good sprint but I’m guessing everyone else got held up by the crash," he added. 

"I could just see a white jersey [Nizzolo] coming up on my left. I just put it in my biggest gear and went flat out to be honest."

Hayter, while coming from south London, moved to Manchester as part of the British Cycling Academy and trained on the roads used in stage five of this year's race, making it a special win for him.

"It’s really nice to win at the Tour of Britain and take the race lead back," Hayter added. "I’ll also remember this one as it’s my training roads and I’ve lived here for quite a few years now."

Hayter now has three tricky days to hold onto the jersey with stage six the toughest of the three. The sixth stage is a very hilly route from Carlisle to Gateshead, before an undulating stage seven to Edinburgh, and a sprinters' day to end the race in Aberdeen on Sunday, September 12.

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Tim Bonville-Ginn

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.