Ethan Hayter bounces back from crash to win Tour de Romandie Stage 2

Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) outsprinted Jon Aberasturi (Trek-Segafredo) and Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) on Stage 2 of the Tour de Romandie. Rohan Dennis (Jumbo-Visma) remains top of the GC

Today's 168km long stage around Echallens took the riders through the hilly fields of this Swiss region, with the stage offering the fast men what was likely their only chance at the race.

The four-man breakaway was composed of Diego López (Equipo Kern Pharma), Nils Brun (Swiss Cycling), Baptiste Planckaert (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) and the Latvian road champion Toms Skujinš (Trek-Segafredo). 

With 38km to go, the four-man breakaway halved as Planckaert and López sat up in their saddles. 18km later, the front group was no more. 

Skujinš and Brun were brought back about 20km from the finish, Ineos Grenadiers kept the pace high.

After crashing out of the leader's jersey on stage one, Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) sprinted to victory on stage two in a long drawn-out sprint.

The 23-year-old opened his sprint with 200m to go, beating Jon Aberasturi (Trek-Segafredo) and Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) to the line in a narrow finale in Échellens. 

Shushing his lips over the line, Hayter sent a message to those who doubted his positioning on stage one, and took his second victory at this edition of the Tour de Romandie. 

Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), who was dealt a 20-second time penalty for an illegal bottle collection on stage one, dropped out of the top ten, while Rohan Dennis (Jumbo-Visma) maintained the lead of the race.

The Tour de Romandie's 3rd stage on Friday features several hilly loops around Valbroye. The race totals 165.1 kilometres and the elevation gain is 2,700 metres. There are six opportunities to gain KOM points, on all occasions on a 3rd category climbs.

VIDEO: 2022 Tour de Romandie Stage 2 Highlights

2022 Tour de Romandie Stage 2 Top 10

1. Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, in 4-04-55
2. Jon Aberasturi (Esp) Trek-Segafredo
3. Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates
4. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Bora-Hansgrohe
5. Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost
6. Quinten Hermans (Bel) Intermarché-Want-Gobert Matériaux
7. Nikias Arndt (Ger) DSM
8. Ben O'Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën
9. Felix Grosßchartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
10. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Jumbo-Visma, all at s.t.

2022 Tour de Romandie GC after Stage 2

1. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Jumbo-Visma, in 9-34-43
2. Felix Grosßchartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 14s
3. Mauro Schmid (Swi) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, at 18s
4. Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Victorious, at 18s
5. Juan Ayuso (Esp) UAE Team Emirates, at 18s
6. Mikkel Honoré (Den) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, at 18s
7. Patrick Bevin (NZl) Israel-Premier Tech, at 20s
8. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, at 21s
9. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 23s
10. Marc Hirschi (Swi) UAE Team Emirates, at 24s