Ethan Hayter victorious at wet and dark Tour of Holland prologue - "I’m back to my best in the time trials this year"

The reborn Tour of Holland was brought back to life this year and in mid-October there is still a sizeable and quality startlist that began their effort in The Hague this Tuesday morning with a 4-kilometer long prologue. In this short and explosive effort, which took place in the evening and under some tricky weather conditions, British time trial champion Ethan Hayter proved to be the strongest, even if he had two riders finish within a second of him.

“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," the Soudal - Quick-Step rider said in a press release. "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.”

Hayter beat Lidl-Trek's Cameron Rogers and Jakob Söderqvist, both riders from the development team however with plenty talent to make it into any World Tour outfit. The gaps were small so every detail mattered, and here Hayter took his fourth win of the year, after having done the same at the Baloise Belgium Tour, National Championships and Tour de Luxembourg - in every single case, in efforts against the clock.

“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," he admits. He takes over the race lead and also builds himself as a contender for overall victory. "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”.