Credit: Ievgenii Karanov, Chronicle.lu

On Saturday 20 September 2025, the Škoda Tour de Luxembourg held the fourth stage of its five-day race across the Grand Duchy, an individual time trial in Niederanven covering 26.3 km.

According to event president Andy Schleck, organising a time trial is always a challenge, as it requires a long, fully closed and demanding course. Niederanven provided just that, with a slightly uphill start followed by a rolling route on which Schleck expects the fastest riders to average over 50 km/h. He described the time trial as a decisive stage, where every second could prove crucial in the general classification. Organisers similarly emphasised its pivotal character, noting that it is the moment when the strongest time trialists are expected to make the difference

Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step) won the 26.3 km time trial in 30:38.71. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates XRG) finished second, 28 seconds slower, and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) completed the top three at 58 seconds behind.

In an interview with Chronicle.lu, stage winner Ethan Hayter described his victory as “a really nice win for me” and thanked his team “for believing in me and supporting me in the time trials.” He added: “Every time trial I’ve been very competitive this year and I was quite nervous, to be honest. I thought the course might be too hard for me with the climbs, but actually they were quite short so I could really push over them and do a great time trial.”

However, Brandon McNulty also had plenty to celebrate. Although he finished second in the time trial, his performance allowed him to take over the yellow jersey of the general classification from Denmark’s Mattias Skjelmose. The American rider from UAE Team Emirates XRG now tops the overall standings with a time of 12:05:43, 47 seconds ahead of Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek). Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) moved into third place, trailing McNulty by 1:04.

In the team classification, UAE Team Emirates XRG also moved into the lead with a combined time of 36:19:48. The Swiss outfit Tudor Pro Cycling Team sits in second place, 1:22 behind, while Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team holds third at 3:05 adrift.

On Sunday 21 September 2025, the Škoda Tour de Luxembourg will conclude with Stage 5, covering 176.4 km from Mersch to Luxembourg-Limpertsberg, where the overall winners of the five-day race will be decided.