Ethan Hayter on Thursday won stage five of the Tour of Britain in a reduced sprint to move back into the overall lead of the race.
Hayter edged out Giacomo Nizzolo and Dan McLay on the finish line in Warrington, England, after a crash for his Ineos Grenadiers teammate Owain Doull on the final bend split the peloton.
Wout van Aert was caught on the wrong side of the incident in the leader’s jersey and so with the bonus seconds Hayter moved back in front overall, eight seconds ahead of the Belgian.
“On this stage, I know so many of the roads, and it’s the Tour of Britain, so it’s amazing to win as a British rider,” Manchester-based Hayter said. “I owe it to my teammates.”
Thursday’s 152km stage from Alderley Park took the peloton into the Peak District, but a sprint finish was always anticipated given the long flat run into Warrington.
Mark Cavendish avoided the chaos after Doull lost it 600m from the finish on roads left slippery by earlier rain, but he appeared to get boxed in as riders fought for position and finished fifth.
The day belonged to Hayter, who followed his Olympic silver medal in the Madison by winning the Tour of Norway last month, and now is firmly in contention to take his home race as well.
“I didn’t actually get a great run at the finish, I couldn’t quite believe the situation, but I just put it in the biggest gear and it was enough,” Hayter said. “There’s a lot of hard racing to come and it might not come down to time bonuses — there might be gaps tomorrow and a couple of days after, so it’s going to be interesting, we’ll see what we can do.”
The race continued yesterday with a 198km stage in England from Carlisle to Gateshead.
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