Ethan's Profile

Yet another young British rider to graduate from the Great Britian Cycling Team track programme to a career as a promising road racer, Ethan Hayter continues to successfully combine the two disciplines, riding on the road for Soudal Quick-Step alongside his efforts on the track, having most recently represented Great Britain at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, taking home his second Olympic silver medal.

Hayter first tasted track riding at the legendary Herne Hill velodrome in his home city at the age of 13 and raced for the famous VC Londres cycling club, where he remains an honorary member. His talent led to a spot on the Great Britain Cycling Team’s Senior Academy squad in 2016 and, before he turned 20, Hayter was already a world and European champion on the track.

Hayter had already shown his potential in international team pursuit at youth levels, and by 2018, was poised to make his mark at elite level on the international track stage, taking gold in the team pursuit at the UCI World Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, with Ed Clancy, Charlie Tanfield and Kian Emadi. Two months later he represented England in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, picking up a silver medal behind the hosts Australia in the team pursuit, and adding a bronze medal in the points race.

Over the summer of 2018, Hayter enjoyed productive performances at the UEC European Track Championships in Glasgow, where he was crowned European champion in the omnium after a thrilling victory over Italian legend and Olympic champion Elia Viviani, Hayter also picked up bronze medals in the team pursuit and Madison, where he partnered Ollie Wood. 

The 2019 season also opened with medals at the highest level, at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Pruszkow, Poland. Hayter teamed with Clancy, Wood and Tanfield for a silver in the team pursuit before winning a bronze in the omnium.

Hayter’s promising road performances and in 2017 he was signed as a trainee by Team Sky (now Ineos Grenadiers) the following year.

The delayed Olympic year of 2021 saw Hayter building towards Tokyo while racing an exciting road campaign, in which he won stages of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali, the Volta ao Algarve, and the Vuelta a Andalucia. Switching focus for the Olympics Hayter returned seamlessly to the track and won his first Olympic medal, a silver with Walls in the Madison in Tokyo. Later in the year more medals followed at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in France, where he won gold in the omnium and bronze as part of the team pursuit. He returned the road for the rest of the season, winning two stages and the general classification at the Tour of Norway, before riding a thrilling edition of the Tour of Britain, in which he battled, amongst others Jumbo-Visma’s Wout van Aert on several stages, winning two stages and the points jersey.

Track success continued in 2022 with medals at the UCI Track Nations Cup in Milton, Canada, with gold in the omnium and silver in the Madison with partner Rhys Britton. The World Championships proved even more fruitful, with team pursuit gold (with Wood, Vernon and Dan Bigham) to add to omnium gold and silver in the Madison, also with Wood. 

On the road it was another successful season, with stage wins at the Coppi e Bartali, the Tour de Romandie (where Hayter also won the points jersey), the Tour of Norway and an overall win at the Tour of Poland. He finished fourth in the UCI World Championship Individual Time Trial in Wollongong, Australia.

Into 2023, and stage wins at Itzulia Basque Country and the Tour de Romandie proved Hayter’s consistency as he continued to deliver at the top level, but disaster struck when he broke his collarbone following a crash on the first stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, ending his hopes of riding his first Tour de France that year. He returned to racing later in the season, recording third place overall in the CRO Race and picking up a stage win at the Tour of Guangxi

Heading towards the Paris Olympics, 2024 opened with success on the track for Hayter, with golds in the omnium and the team pursuit at the UEC European Track Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, the latter with teammates Bigham, Tanfield, Vernon and Wood, and the exact same results most recently at the UCI Track Nations Cup in Milton, Canada. 

The Games themselves saw Hayter and teammates Dan BIgham, Ollie Wood, Charlie Tanfield and Ethan Vernon battle hard against surprise threats Australia, initially qualifying seconds fastest with a British record time of 3:43.241. The final against Australia saw a tense tussle with just a tenth of a second separating the two teams heading into the final lap, until a shock slip off the saddle from Hayter saw the British team pipped to the post to take the Olympic silver medal.

Hayter completed 2024 with another silver medal in the team pursuit alongside Charlie Tanfield, Josh Charlton, Ollie Wood and Rhys Britton at the 2024 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, narrowly missing out to home nation Denmark.

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