The Tour of Luxembourg saw a dramatic shift on Saturday. American cyclist Brandon McNulty, riding for UAE-Emirates, snatched the yellow jersey. His strong performance in the individual time trial put him at the top of the general classification.
McNulty’s second-place finish in the fourth stage’s race against the clock was a crucial move. While he celebrated his new lead, the stage victory itself belonged to Britain’s Ethan Hayter from Soudal Quick-Step. Hayter rode an absolutely dominant race.
Hayter tackled the 26.3-kilometer course, which started and finished in Niederanven, in an impressive 30 minutes and 38 seconds. That’s an average speed of 51.493 kilometers per hour. He left everyone else in his dust, beating McNulty by a clear 27 seconds. Irish rider Ben Healy from EF Education First-EasyPost was 57 seconds back. Only McNulty and Healy managed to stay within a minute of Hayter’s blistering pace.
This performance turned the general classification upside down. McNulty now wears the yellow jersey. He unseated Denmark’s Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) from the top spot. Skjelmose had a tough day, finishing 10th in the time trial, 1 minute and 22 seconds behind Hayter. He now sits second overall, 47 seconds behind McNulty. Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz, also from EF Education First, made a significant climb. He moved up four spots on the leaderboard to third. Carapaz trails McNulty by 1 minute and 4 seconds.
On the Portuguese front, Tiago Antunes of Efapel showed a strong effort. He came in 24th in the stage, 1 minute and 53 seconds behind Hayter. This moved him up three places in the overall standings to 14th. Antunes is now 2 minutes and 27 seconds behind the leader. He’s also just eight seconds shy of cracking the top 11. Joaquim Silva, also from Efapel, was the second-best Portuguese rider. He finished 66th in the stage, 3 minutes and 14 seconds off the pace. Silva dropped three spots in the general classification to 56th. He is now 11 minutes and 47 seconds behind McNulty.
The race isn’t over yet. The fifth and final stage is scheduled for Sunday. Riders will cover 176.4 kilometers. The route stretches from Mersch all the way to Luxembourg City. It promises a thrilling conclusion to the Tour of Luxembourg.