Tour of Holland

Soudal Quick-Step celebrated its second victory in the space of just twelve hours, Tuesday evening. After Paul Magnier took the spoils on the opening stage of the Tour of Guangxi in the morning, Ethan Hayter added another success to our team’s tally, this time in Europe.

The British Champion, one of the last riders to roll down the ramp in Den Haag – where the Tour of Holland evening prologue took place – put in a flying ride on the 4km short and flat course to rack up his fourth win of the season, after the ones he picked up at the Tour of Belgium, Nationals, and Tour de Luxembourg. Hayter stopped the clock in 4:26 and finished first for the smallest of margins after averaging almost 54km/h, a success that moved him into the leader’s jersey.

“It’s really nice to take a victory just before the end of the season, and especially after missing out on a medal for less than a second at the European Championships. I feel that I’m back to my best in the time trials this year, and I have to thank the team for this, because they showed a lot of confidence in me and supported me with the best equipment.”

“It was an atypical time trial, held in the evening, and for that reason, it reminded me a bit of track racing. I didn’t take any risks out there, but at the same time, I made sure of going as fast as possible. The orange jersey that I will now wear is a nice bonus, because it’s always special to lead a stage race. We are here with a strong team and we hope to be in the mix for more stage victories”, said Ethan after scoring Soudal Quick-Step 48th victory of the season.

Photo credit: ©Cor Vos