Ethan Hayter Can’t Catch a Break at the Vuelta as UCI Jury Wipes Out His Green Jersey Points

How much heartbreak can Ethan Hayter take in this Vuelta a España?

After losing the opening time trial in Monaco by 0.09 seconds to Tadej Pogačar, then losing a shot at the red jersey on stage 2 when he was gapped on the final run-in to the line after winning a mid-stage time bonus, the British rider was at least intent on making a run at the green jersey Monday.

But it wasn’t meant to be.

The UCI race jury rubbed a little more salt in the wound by erasing the 20 sprint points he earned during Monday’s canceled stage.

Hayter did his part and rode into the day’s early break on stage 3 and picked up 20 points at the intermediate sprint, enough to move him into the virtual lead of the points competition.

Then Mother Nature had other plans.

A freak late-summer storm pelted the peloton with rain, wind and hail, eventually forcing race organizers to cancel the stage because of extreme weather.

Hayter’s 20 points appeared safe. He had collected them at the intermediate sprint well before the weather descended into chaos in the mountains.

They weren’t.

The bad news for Hayter came in the post-stage UCI race jury report.

Here’s what the race jury wrote:

“Stage 3 has been cancelled following consultation between the organiser and the President of the Commissaires’ Panel. The decision was taken due to a significant deterioration in weather conditions during the stage, including poor visibility, strong winds and icy road conditions. After consultation with the organizer, the President of the Commissaires’ Panel decided that the results of both the intermediate sprint and the mountain sprint [has] been cancelled.”

That last line torpedoed Hayter’s efforts in the stage.

Why the race jury wiped out Hayter’s points

The race jury sometimes catches plenty of heat, but as much as wiping out the intermediate sprint might seem unfair to the riders in the break, it was also fair to the riders who were still chasing points at the finish line.

Because the entire stage was canceled, the jury decided to erase the results of the intermediate sprint and the day’s categorized climb for the best climber’s jersey.

So that meant that the points collected on the road as well as those that were waiting at the line that were not contested did not count.

Hayter had moved into the virtual green jersey with his 20 points, but there was no guarantee he would have finished the day as the points leader.

A stage victory was worth 30 points at the line, meaning that if Pogačar had won the stage and Hayter failed to score at the finish, Pogačar would have retained green anyway.

So, with the entire stage wiped from the results, the points standings revert to where they started Monday.

Pogačar still leads Hayter 42 points to 37 in the points competition.

The final insult might be that Hayter will once again ride in green in Tuesday’s stage even though he does not lead the competition. Race protocol requires that all the jerseys are worn, and with Pogačar in red, the green jersey goes to the second place rider in the green jersey competition.

Chasing those points back will be much harder for Hayter on Tuesday’s four-climb stage across Andorra.

The day’s intermediate sprint comes after two Cat. 1 monsters, making it all but impossible for the British time trial champion to survive those climbs with the front group and contest the sprint.

La Vuelta can sometimes be cruel, and Hayter is finding that out the hard way.