Tour de Romandie stage 2: Ethan Hayter sprints to win, takes race lead

This article originally appeared on Velo News

Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) took a sprint win from a reduced bunch sprint on stage 2 of the Tour de Romandie into La Chaux-de-Fonds, taking the race lead in the process.

Hayter had a clear margin over Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) in second place with Romain Bardet (Team DSM) taking third.

The bunch had been thinned out over a series of climbs inside the last 30 kilometers and a frenetic finale followed with several of the GC riders attempting to go on the attack as the line loomed into sight.

“Maybe the sprint wasn’t so close, but to get there was the hard part. It was a pretty hard stage and Jumbo made a good pace on all of the last climbs and there were a lot of attacks in the last part. I survived and did a good sprint,” Hayter said afterward.

“My team got to the front at the perfect time. We had to go a little bit early but I think it was best with all of the roundabouts to stay out of trouble and then I was just waiting for the guys to come from behind. I saw someone coming and then I started the wind up for the sprint.”

Illness has played havoc with the peloton already this week and James Knox (Soudal Quick-Step) was the next rider forced to leave due to sickness. U.S. rider Sean Quinn (EF Education-EastPost) also didn’t make the start Thursday morning.

It took around 25km of racing before a small three-rider breakaway made it up the road. Gleb Brussenskiy (Astana-Qazaqstan), Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafred), and Tom Bohli (Tudor) formed the move. The trio gained almost five minutes at one stage, but the peloton wasn’t content with the break taking the win and began pulling the group back in the second half of the stage.

Brussenskiy was the last of the attackers to hold off the inevitable, but he was eventually caught inside the final 30km.

While the terrain was far from the toughest that will be seen at the race, Jumbo-Visma set a stern pace for overnight leader Tobias Foss that gradually whittled down the bunch on the penultimate climb of the Col de la Tourne, a second-category ascent. However, there was still a sizeable number in the main group when the climb was completed with 25km to go.

The race exploded briefly on the final climb of Le Communal with Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) trying to get away, but the third-category ascent wasn’t long wough to do too significant damage. From the top, there was a short descent before an uncategorized rise inside the final 10km and a flat finale.

A series of attacks on the flat roads to the finish strung out the bunch into the final kilometer. Ineos Grenadiers took control and launched Hayter to the win.

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Stage 1: Ethan Vernon wins after half the peloton loses its way

Ethan Vernon (Soudal Quick-Step) powered to victory in stage 1 at the Tour de Romandie in a stage marked by the back half of the peloton getting lost on course.

The bunch split on a steep climb with about one hour to go, and the leaders roared into the finish to contest for the sprint.

The laggards, however, seemed to get mixed up and steered off-course when the gap was about 5 minutes to the leaders.

The lost group was seen pedaling back toward the finish line with oncoming traffic on the course in what was a rolling closure at the week-long Swiss race.

It was not immediately clear what caused the misdirection. The group rolled in about 10 minutes back, but well within any risk of missing the time cut.

At the front of the race, Vernon was fastest in the reduced bunch, with Thibau Nys (Trek-Segafredo), son of CX legend Sven Nys, pounding his handlebar after finishing second and just missing his first WorldTour win. Milan Menton (Lotto Dstny) crossed the line third.

“The group split with about 45km to go, so I knew it was all-in for the sprint. The nerves started to set in a bit when you know the stage is there. I didn’t see anyone behind me,” Vernon said. “I don’t think there’s much time to enjoy tomorrow, but it looks quite hard.”

Soudal Quick-Step played hot potato with the leader’s jersey, with Vernon also taking over the top spot on GC from teammate Josef Cerny, who won the opening prologue Tuesday.

Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) and Simon Yates (Jayco AlUla) both did not finish.

The race continues Thursday with the 162.7km second stage from Morteau to La Chaux-de-Fonds. A couple of short but steep climbs could complicate things for the pure sprinters.

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Prologue: Josef Cerny blitzes to slim GC lead

Josef Cerny topped the prologue podium Tuesday and secured the leader's jersey at the Tour de Romandie.

The Czech landed Soudal-Quick-Step's 20th win of the season by topping world TT champion Tobias Foss (Jumbo-Visma) and Quick-Step teammate Remi Cavagna in a lightning-fast 6.8km race around Port Valais.

Cerny won by just one second with his 55.1kph ride around Port Valais.

“It was really tight, I’m super happy I was the lucky one today and could enjoy the win,” he said after the race.

“I work hard, so I was not super surprised [by the result]. I was not really the favorite today, but I was very confident and thought I could be top-10 or top-5. But victory is really nice for me.”

Nico Denz (Bora-Hansgrohe) landed in the hotseat early on Tuesday and lasted there for some time until Cerny bettered his time by four seconds.

The 29-year-old's ride was good enough to fend off challenges from pre-stage favorites Foss, Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers), and Ivo Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates).

Returning GC stars Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Juan Ayuso (UAE Emirates) finished 26 and 12 seconds back respectively. Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) was the fastest U.S. racer with a time that put him 33rd, 19 seconds behind Cerny.

Rui Costa (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty) saw a horror start to his tour.

The former world champ was derailed in the first meters of the race when his chainring ripped away from his frame as he stamped out of the start ramp.

Costa was forced to complete the TT on his road bike while nursing what looked to be an injured knee. He finished five minutes down but appears to have survived the time cut.

Racing kick starts proper Wednesday with a long hilly day into Valee de Joux.

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