Baloise Belgium Tour

Ethan Hayter produced a flawless ride on the third stage of the race, an almost flat 9.7km individual time trial between Tessenderlo and Ham, to take his maiden win since joining Soudal Quick-Step at the beginning of the year.

Former national champion of the discipline, the Brit averaged a whooping 55.46km/h and stopped the clock in 10:29, a result that put him into the hot seat, where he stayed for close to two hours. In the end, Hayter had a margin of four seconds on runner-up Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) and moved into the leader’s jersey ahead of Saturday’s hilly stage around Durbuy.

“It feels great to get my first win of the season! It wasn’t the easiest start to the year, but the team has been patient with me and I’m happy I could repay them for their confidence and amazing support. I liked this parcours, it was a really nice one and I enjoyed it. I felt good out there, the most nervous part was waiting in the hot seat until everybody finished.”

“As soon as I left the start ramp, I just went full gas out there and I’m delighted with my time and with being at the top of the general classification. A special mention to our technical partners: Specialized, for providing me the best bike there is, and Castelli, whose new CDN Time Trial suit was perfect. Together, they made the difference today. Now we will try to defend the jersey and do our best to keep it after Saturday’s stage, before shifting our attention again to helping Tim on the last day of the race”, Ethan said after signing off Soudal Quick-Step’s 20th success of the year.

Photo credit: ©Rhode Van Elsen / Getty Images