“It’s nice to be back in orange” – Ethan Hayter regains GC lead at Tour of Holland 2025 with powerful stage 2 TT win
Cycling
Ethan Hayter delivered a perfectly-paced ride to win the stage 2 time trial at the 2025 Tour of Holland and reclaim the overall lead, defeating Jacob Soderqvist on a wet and technical course around Etten-Leur.
The Briton, who also won the opening prologue earlier in the week, finished two seconds ahead of Soderqvist and 15 seconds clear of Christophe Laporte to take his second victory of the race and pull on the orange jersey once again.
“It was really tough,” Hayter admitted afterwards. “There were a lot of wet leaves on the road during recon and again in the race, so it was pretty tricky and heavy going. Luckily, by the time I started it was almost dry, which helped a bit in the end.”
The 27-year-old from Soudal - Quick-Step had trailed Soderqvist at the intermediate checkpoint but came back strongly in the final sector — a product, he said, of careful pacing. “It was hard, but I paced it well,” he explained. “I saved just enough energy for the last section to take the time back.”
Taking things day by day
Hayter’s victory not only underlined his consistency in short time trials this season — following previous wins in Luxembourg and the Baloise Belgium Tour — but also marked the 51st success of the year the Soudal - Quick-Step team. Despite that, he insisted there would be no complacency heading into the remaining stages. “It’s nice to be back in orange tomorrow,” he said. “We’ll see what the next few days bring.”
The Londoner also admitted he hadn’t yet studied the upcoming terrain. “Races at the end of the season, I just take them day by day. I’ll check what tomorrow’s course looks like later,” he smiled.
With teammate Tim Merlier also claiming a stage earlier in the week, The Wolfpack have already left a strong mark on the Dutch race — and with Hayter back in command of the general classification, they look well placed to carry that dominance into the final days.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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Huge ride from @ethan_hayter to take our sixth consecutive victory in just three days 🚀 #No52in2025 #WayToRide Photo: Cor Vos
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