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A time trial victory by Ineos Grenadiers at the Tour of Britain has pushed Ethan Hayter into the lead, just ahead of his Australian teammate Rohan Dennis.
Australia's Olympic medallist Rohan Dennis has demonstrated his expertise against the clock once more, helping inspire his Ineos colleagues to victory in the team trial at the Tour of Britain and moving into second place overall.
Dennis, Adelaide's two-time world time trial champion who recently took bronze in the Tokyo time trial, was the spearhead of a powerful Ineos team effort, which also included a fine ride from his compatriot Richie Porte on the race's third stage in Wales on Tuesday.
Ineos posted a time of 20 minutes and 22 seconds for the undulating 18.2-kilometre trek from Llandeilo to the National Botanic Garden of Wales, finishing 17.5 seconds quicker than the runners-up, Deceuninck-Quick-Step.
The ride propelled their young British star Ethan Hayter into the overall lead, just six seconds clear of Dennis, while stage one winner Wout Van Aert was a further 10 seconds back with French world champion Julian Alaphilippe seven seconds behind him in fourth place.
Porte reckoned that his mate Dennis orchestrated the triumph.
"Hats off to Rohan today, he really got us across the line, incredibly strong. We're motivated - it's our home race and it's a great result," said the veteran Tasmanian.
"I don't really know if we were favourites to be honest, but to win the stage is a great satisfaction. It's nice for us to race in Wales and we'll try and defend this jersey."
Hayter too was quick to acknowledge the efforts of his two experienced 31-year-old teammates and former world champions, Dennis and Poland's Michal Kwiatkowski.
"Rohan and Kwiato were the most experienced, and guys like Richie have done time trials hundreds of times, so they took us out and started us as we meant to go on," said a thrilled Hayter.
"It's amazing. I've ended up in a few leader's jerseys in the last few races now and it makes the racing great. To win the team time trial is a really nice way to do it."
The UK-based team got to the line with the required four riders - Dennis, Hayter, Porte and Carlos Rodriguez - after Owain Doull and Kwiatkowski had been dropped on a short climb.
It won't be easy to defend the lead in Wednesday's fourth stage which finishes on the tough Great Orme climb just outside Llandudno in north Wales after a gruelling 210km ride.
Porte is now 19th in the general classification, nearly one and a half minutes down, while Kwiatkowski, the 2014 world road race champ, is 23rd.
