20 Aug 2021
Irrepressible Hayter doubles up in Norway
Related riders
Ethan Hayter
Not content with winning one stage at the Tour of Norway and simply defending his race lead on day two, Ethan Hayter went back-to-back in Sirdal, winning the uphill sprint to double his tally and push home his GC advantage.
With the onus on his five Grenadier teammates to control the 180km stage, Leonardo Basso, Jonathan Castroviejo, Filippo Ganna, Luke Rowe and Ben Swift did a sterling job of keeping the break at a manageable distance, before Hayter played the final uphill kilometre to the line perfectly.
After being dropped off by Swift, Hayter followed Mike Teunissen’s wheel, before coming round the Jumbo-Visma man and sprinting for the line, winning by a comfortable margin from Tosh van der Sande (Lotto Soudal).
Ethan Hayter
"I can’t believe it to be honest. It’s amazing.
"It was crazy coming into the climb. I followed an attack that was dangerous coming into the finale which in the end positioned me well for the climb, even if it did come back. In the end I probably shouldn’t have gone with it but you have to defend the jersey, you have to try.
"I can’t believe it to be honest. It’s amazing.
"It was crazy coming into the climb. I followed an attack that was dangerous coming into the finale which in the end positioned me well for the climb, even if it did come back. In the end I probably shouldn’t have gone with it but you have to defend the jersey, you have to try.
"Then it got really crazy when the catch was made. I found my way through, worked my way up, kept my position. I sprinted with 50m to go which felt like it was crazy late, but it was enough to win.
"I was suffering today. I wasn’t sure if we’d bring the break back because they were strong. But it’s a bike race and you have to go for it. People started to help us at the end but for most of the day it was just three of our guys on the front - they were amazing."
Ethan now leads the GC by 15 seconds from Ide Schelling (Bora) and 29 seconds from third-placed Teunissen, ahead of another typically gnarly Norwegian stage tomorrow.
