Ethan Hayter conquers Saltburn Bank to win British road title

Ethan Hayter (Ineos) won the elite men’s road race at the British Championships after seeing off the challenges of Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ) and Max Walker (Astana-Qazaqstan) on the stiff climb of Saltburn Bank.

After an aggressive opening to the race had reduced the front group to just fifteen or so riders, the winning move began to take shape with a little over 50km remaining, when Hayter, Askey and Walker went clear in the company of Jake Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech) and Bob Donaldson (Trinity Racing), with Connor Swift (Ineos) and Joseph Blackmore joining them at the beginning of the penultimate lap.

Soon afterwards, Hayter, Askey and Walker forged ahead, and the trio would combine well to open a lead of more than a minute by the time they took the bell with 26km to go.

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On the final lap, Swift made a game effort to bridge across alone to the break, but it already seemed clear that the leading trio would decide the title on the short but sharp climb from the seafront to the finish line.

Once onto the climb, Hayter was happy to control affairs from the front, but Askey launched a rasping acceleration when the gradient began to bite. His effort saw off the challenge of Walker, but Hayter was able to resist. After biding his time on Askey’s wheel, Hayter unleased an attack of his own near the top of the climb, and it was enough to carry him clear to victory and he already looked assured of the title by the time the road flattened out in the final 150m.

Askey took the silver medal and Walker the bronze, while Swift came home in fourth place ahead of Owain Doull (EF Education-EasyPost).

Twice a winner of the British time trial title in years past, Hayter has now added the road title to his palmarès. The victory was his first since he won a stage of last year’s Tour de Romandie. The 25-year-old is set to line up in the team pursuit at the Paris 2024 Olympics alongside his Ineos teammate Josh Tarling, who placed 7th here having cruised to the time trial title earlier in the week.

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