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)