Ethan Hayter Wins Luxembourg Tour Time Trial, McNulty Drops Skjelmose from Leader's Jersey

The time trial in the Tour of Luxembourg was impressively won by Ethan Hayter. The Brit proved by far the best in the 26-kilometer chrono. Brandon McNulty was by far the best GC contender, riding Mattias Skjelmose out of the leader's jersey.

A time trial on Saturday was set to further shape the general classification in the Tour of Luxembourg. Around Niederanven, the organizers had laid out a 26-kilometer course where minutes could be gained or lost. After three stages, Skjelmose was in the lead, but the gap to the ninth-placed rider in the GC was still only twenty seconds in favor of the Dane. So the Tour of Luxembourg was by no means decided yet.

In the early hours, we saw Swiss rider Joe Suter (32:28) spend some time in the hot seat, but the heavy hitters like Stefan Bissegger, Nils Politt and Ethan Hayter were still to start. Towards the end of the day, more and more riders beat the Swiss’s time. First Nils Politt (31:54), then the Frenchman Thibault Guernalec (31:39). Would he then watch from the hot seat as the GC contenders battled it out? No, because Hayter surprised everyone in Luxembourg by smashing a full minute off Guernalec's time.

McNulty dispatches GC rivals
In the fight for the overall win, challenger Brandon McNulty wasted no time. At the first intermediate checkpoint he posted the fastest time, also quicker than Hayter, while leader Skjelmose had to concede nearly half a minute there. Riders like Jordan Jegat, Richard Carapaz, and Marc Hirschi also lost significant time at the first split, making it clear early that the American would take control in Luxembourg.

The only question left was... Could he beat Hayter? No was the answer. In the end, McNulty crossed the line 28 seconds behind. However, the American gained substantial time on the rest of the GC contenders, meaning he will start Sunday’s final stage of the Tour of Luxembourg as the new race leader.