Ethan Hayter triumphs against the clock in Tour de Romandie prologue
3 min read
Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) thundered to victory in the limited but technological particular person time trial prologue at the Tour de Romandie.
The Brit held off the two-time entire world champion Rohan Dennis (Jumbo-Visma) by four seconds to assert his second victory of the year.
Geraint Thomas, Hayter’s crew-mate at Ineos Grenadiers, concluded fourth on the phase, providing himself an early edge as he looks to retain his Tour de Romandie title.
Hayter will wear the eco-friendly leader’s jersey, sponsored by Swiss cheesemakers Le Maréchal, on phase one particular of the 6-day race.
How it happened
The opening person time trial supplied a flat parcours fraught with complex road blocks. With a handful of tricky corners and two hairpin turns, the 5.1km route close to the city of Lausanne promised danger taking from those hoping to spot extremely in the normal classification.
By the time the 1st riders set off down the ramp, the morning’s rain had dried out and the sunshine was beating down on the tarmac. Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), a person of the early starters, established a robust time to conquer of 6-05-96, averaging in excess of 50km/h.
The German didn’t guide the race for extended right before his time was bettered by Matteo Sobrero (BikeExchange-Jayco). Or so we assumed. A nearer appear at the clock placed the Italian time demo champion in next by a fraction of a millisecond, and Schachmann saved his area in the hot seat.
Felix Grosßchartner (Bora-Hansgrohe), nevertheless, remaining no area for question. The Austrian glided by way of the course, taking a few seconds off his teammate’s time and bringing the bar closer to the 6-moment mark.
The very first rider to clock beneath six minutes was Hayter. Adorned in the crimson, white and blue bands of the British countrywide champion jersey, the Ineos Grenadiers rider compelled a big gear along the Lausanne airport runway, gasping for air as he drove down on the pedals. The Brit swung spherical the last ideal-hander and around the line to set a blistering time of 5-52-79.
Rohan Dennis then rolled down the ramp in lookup of his initial victory considering the fact that joining Jumbo-Visma at the start of the calendar year. The Australian time demo champion flew spherical the circuit, but fell 4 seconds small of Hayter’s time and was compelled to settle for next.
In the fight for the general classification, it was final year’s winner Geraint Thomas who took an early edge around his rivals. The Welshman finished the prologue in fourth, 9 seconds in advance of Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) and in excess of 10 seconds ahead of Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroën) and Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious).
Benefits
Tour de Romandie 2022, prologue (ITT): Lausanne to Lausanne (5.1km)
1. Ethan Hayter (Gbr) Ineos Grenadiers, in 5-52-79
2. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Jumbo-Visma, at 4s
3. Félix Grosschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 10s
4. Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Ineos Grenadiers, at 10s
5. Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 13s
6. Matteo Sobrero (Ita) BikeExchange-Jayco, at 13s
7. Ethan Vernon (Gbr) Fast-Phase Alpha Vinyl, at 14s
8. Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Education and learning-Simple Article
9. Mauro Schmid (Swi) Fast-Phase Alpha Vinyl
10. Juan Ayuso (Esp) UAE Workforce Emirates, all at s.t.
Basic classification soon after prologue
1. Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, in 5-52-79
2. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Jumbo-Visma, at 4s
3. Félix Grosschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 10s
4. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, at 10s
5. Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 13s
6. Matteo Sobrero (Ita) BikeExchange-Jayco, at 13s
7. Ethan Vernon (GBr) Speedy-Step Alpha Vinyl, at 14s
8. Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Training-Simple Submit
9. Mauro Schmid (Swi) Quick-Action Alpha Vinyl
10. Juan Ayuso (Esp) UAE Team Emirates, all at s.t.
