Swift defends national jersey in Lincoln

Ineos star wins national road title as Georgi spoils the Drops-Le Col party, reports James Shrubsall

- James Shrubsall

A last-ditch dash up Michaelgate and across to the leaders wasn’t enough to make it a hat-trick of titles for Ethan Hayter in the men’s National Championship road race in Lincoln on Sunday. The Ineos Grenadiers rider had already won the circuit race and the time trial in imperious fashion and was widely fancied to make it three.

Instead it was Hayter’s team-mate and defending champion Ben Swift who took the plaudits, outgunning Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) up the Michaelgate cobbles, with Hayter finishing a further two seconds back in third.

“I might have got the Strava segment if I’m lucky,” rued Hayter, whose younger brother Leo also scooped a bronze medal in the concurrently run U23 race, adding to the U23 time trial win he took earlier in the week.

For a jubilant Swift, the fact he had been able to wear the jersey for two years because of the race being cancelled in 2020 due to Covid-19, was not lost on him.

“I had to earn it for the last year,” he said at the finish. “It was a tough race, but I’m really happy to keep the jersey.”

His form, he said, had been improving following a mid-season lull, during which his second child was born.

“Then I really started to pick up, stuck a couple of good races together, but you’ve got to pull it off on the day,” he said. “Together with Ethan we had two strong cards so I knew I could use his name out there.”

He added: “The Nationals, you have to race from the front, be aggressive. You just put yourself in the front… I don’t really know how the final group of four happened. There were a few attacks, it was right place, right time. I turned around and we had a gap.”