Ethan Hayter with great display of power to stage win and leader’s jersey in Tour de Romandie | Sport

After the prologue and the first ‘real’ stage, in both cases with day success for Soudal Quick-Step, it was up and down again today in the Tour de Romandie. It started in the French Burgundy, after which the climbing would become a bit more serious after crossing the Swiss border. On the menu were three cols of the second category and two of the third, with the finish on an uncategorized climb in Le Chaux-de-Fonds.

From the start it took about 20 kilometers before a group of three managed to get away from the peloton. The wearer of the polka dot jersey Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo), Tom Bohli (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) and Gleb Brussenskiy (Astana) found each other and gathered three minutes. The flight was not very promising, especially because Jumbo-Visma was dragging the lead in the large group. And then the three at the front came to a close 70 kilometers from the finish in front of a closed railway crossing. Soon the train passed and the riders were able to continue their way, but it was clumsy and it also cost the leaders part of their lead.

In the end, the Jumbo train charged the front runners one by one, while the necessary riders also had to be released at the back of the peloton. For example, classification leader Ethan Vernon was lost early on due to the executioner’s work of Robert Gesink in particular. At about 12 kilometers from the finish there was still a ‘wall’ with gradients of up to 10% and that’s where the violence erupted, although it was difficult to break away from the peloton. Thus the large group passed the top intact.

It then became an open final in which there was a lot of looking at each other. With 2 kilometers to cycle, three Ineos riders took the lead. They had Ethan Hayter on board, the right man for this job. And it showed. After his last servant had surrendered, it was the Briton who made sure there was no misunderstanding. Juan Ayuso and Romain Bardet took second and third respectively, but never really got close to Hayter.

Hayter also immediately took over the leader’s jersey from his compatriot Vernon. In tomorrow’s time trial he defends a lead of 6 seconds over Jumbo rider Tobias Foss and Rémi Cavagna of Soudal Quick-Step. During the weekend there is still a lot of climbing in Switzerland, especially on Saturday.