"The sprint wasn't close, but the hard part was before that" - Ethan Hayter dominant in victory after surviving a tough days racing at the Tour de Romandie

INEOS Grenadiers' Ethan Hayter powered to a dominant sprint victory on stage two of the Tour de Romandie, taking the overall race lead in the process. The 24-year-old admitted the hardest part was done earlier in the day.

“Maybe the sprint wasn't close, but the hard part was before that,” says Hayter in his immediate post-stage interview. “It was a very tough stage. Jumbo-Visma set the pace very high in the final and there were quite a few attacks at the end. I survived and did a good sprint.”

With most of the other fast men already dropped, Hayter battled it out in the sprint with the likes of climbing aces Juan Ayuso and Romain Bardet. "We went a little early, but I think that was for the best with all those roundabouts. That way you stay out of trouble. I waited, waited, waited for the riders from behind, I didn't want to go too early. I saw someone coming, so I started it," he explains. "Yesterday I climbed pretty well. If there was another climb in the final then, as there was today, it might have been better for me. But I was confident that I would be there and indeed it worked.”

With a time trial next up for Hayter what are his chances of holding on to the leader's jersey? It's a bit of a shame that I can't ride in my national champion jersey because of this,” he laughs. “It is nice to be the last to start. The course may be a bit too hilly, but we're going for it. Perhaps it is possible to keep the jersey. I can do a good time trial, but there's a climb in the middle, so we'll see how it goes."