Soudal Quick-Step keeps the party going as it racks up its sixth victory in three days.
Ethan Hayter returned in the Tour of Holland orange jersey after a flawless ride Thursday afternoon, when he finished at the top of the leaderboard in the second individual time trial of the race. Victorious in the Den Haag prologue two days ago, the 27-year-old was the penultimate rider to leave the start house in Etten-Leur, where the stage took place over a flat and fast course, which included just a couple of technical parts, especially in the second part.
The British Champion put in a flying ride that saw him record the fastest time at the intermediate checkpoint and set the early mark for success. In the final seven kilometers of the race, Hayter increased the tempo and blitzed the second half of the time trial, clocking a winning time of 16:56 thanks to an average speed of 52.42km/h.
This success will see Ethan start Friday’s hilly stage with a two-second buffer over his closest opponent in the overall standings of the Tour of Holland, where Soudal Quick-Step teammate Yves Lampaert sits in a strong sixth place after moving up three positions at the end of the ITT.
“The morning rain made it difficult, as the roads were still damp and had some leaves, making it a tricky one to judge, but I was able to do a solid time trial from start to finish, and I’m happy I could bring another one for the team. It’s for the fourth time in my career that I won two stages in a race and it feels nice, especially as it shows as confirmation of all the hard work I’ve put in this year. The next few days have some demanding climbs, but I want to enjoy being in the overall lead again and we’ll see what we can do in the general classification.”
“The team is having a fantastic final part of the season, winning here and also in China, so we can be proud of this. It’s incredible to get six victories this week and we hope to not stop here, as there should be a couple of more opportunities”, Ethan said after the race.
Photo credit: ©Cor Vos
