Aug 23 (Reuters) - British rider Ethan Hayter had to take drastic action and rip open his shorts on the second stage of the Vuelta a Espana on Sunday after being given the wrong-sized kit.
Hayter began the day in the green (points classification) jersey after going agonisingly close to beating Tadej Pogacar in the opening time trial in Monaco.
Sadly, the shorts given to him by the organisers were the wrong size.
"The organisation, for some reason, they only gave me an extra small, and then they didn't have any spares, so they said you can wear your own team kit or the green jersey," the 27-year-old Soudal–Quick-Step rider said.
"I said I can't wear my own team kit -- you never know when your last day is in the jersey. But then we started the race, and it was like cutting the blood from my legs, so I had to (cut them). It looked a bit silly, but I was really suffering in the breakaway, and I started to feel a lot better once I made some breathing room for my legs."
Four-time track cycling world champion Hayter looked set to upgrade to the overall leader's red jersey as he broke away from a small lead group and took six bonus seconds late on in the hilly 214km stage from Monaco to Manosque.
But he drifted back after being caught and ended up near the back of the peloton.
He will stay in the green kit on Monday though, hopefully without the need for scissors.
(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Toby Davis)
