Tour of Holland: Ethan Hayter powers to prologue victory

Jakob Søderqvist made it two Lidl-Trek riders on the stage podium, slotting in just 0.44 seconds shy of Hayter in third.

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“It’s really nice to finish the season so well, and there was [just] two tenths in the end, which is nothing,” Hayter said. “I was really close to medal last week at the European Championships – less than the second and now it’s the other way around – so I’m really happy.

“I’ve really got back to my my best in the time trials this year. It’s been really nice. I have to thank the team for believing in me and giving me all the best equipment to go as fast as possible.”

Rogers, the nephew of ex-pro Michael Rogers, was disappointed not to get the win, but looked on the bright side.

“I beat some big names still, so I’m pretty happy, and I still get to wear a jersey going in tomorrow. I’m pretty happy, but also a bit bummed,” Rogers said.

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In the dark of night under a light rain, the inaugural Tour of Holland began with a four-kilometre prologue time trial through the streets of the Zuiderpark in The Hague.

Nils Eekhoff (Picnic-PostNL), the 12th rider down the ramp, set the most lasting early time in 4:32.1.

The Dutch rider had only 20 minutes to cool down in the hot seat before Cameron Rogers (Lidl-Trek) bested his time by five seconds, coming through with a time of 4:26.93.

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The margin seemed to bode well for the upstart who beat Filippo Ganna in the prologue of the Tour of Austria last year, but Rogers had a long time to wait to find out if he would win the stage. He watched as riders like Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike) and under-23 time trial world champion Jakob Søderqvist (Lidl-Trek) came and went without surpassing his mark.

Søderqvist was just three-tenths of a second off winning the stage behind the unlikely leader, who was called up from Lidl-Trek’s development team.

Rogers’ hopes began to rise as the last ten riders started to come through the line and he was still leading the standings.

British champion Ethan Hayter (Soudal-Quickstep) posed the biggest danger as a fellow track cyclist and pursuit specialist.

Rogers could only hold his head in dismay as Hayter gave his all to come through just 28 hundredths of a second quicker.

Only three riders came after Hayter, but Johan Price Pejtersen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) could not get past the Briton.