TIRANA, ALBANIA - MAY 10: Ethan Hayter of Great Britain and Team Soudal Quick-Step competes during the 108th Giro d&apos;Italia 2025, Stage 2 a 13.7km individual time trial stage from Tirana to Tirana / #UCIWT / on May 10, 2025 in Tirana, Albania. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

‘There were a few things going on’ – Ethan Hayter won five time trials in 2025 but a nutrition problem disrupted his road racing

January 21, 2026

Ethan Hayter won five time trials in 2025 and went close to overall victory in the Tour of Belgium. From the outside, his first season at Soudal-QuickStep seemed like a success, and the likeable, quiet-speaking British rider seemed on the way back to the great form he showed early in his career at Ineos Grenadiers.

However, results and social media reveal little of the complexities and pain of WorldTour racing.

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Hayter’s problems affected him in long races but not for short efforts such as time trials. His time trial talents and dialled-in position on Soudal-QuickStep’s Specialized bike helped win five different time trials during 2025, including the British national title. He was also third in the key Giro d’Italia time trial to Pisa, just nine seconds slower than winner Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek) and Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers).

Ethan Hayter in action at the Tour of Belgium (Image credit: Getty Images)

Hayter is in the second and final year of his Soudal-QuickStep contract. He has a different race programme for 2026, aimed at taking advantage of his time trial skills and his sprinting talents in hillier races.

He will not ride the Tour de France despite the opening team time trial in Barcelona, with a ride at the Vuelta a España part of his 2026 schedule. Hayter has won the Tour de Pologne and the Tour of Norway in the past.

“I’m targeting more one-week races this year. Most of them have a TT, and hopefully some reduce sprints so I can try to be competitive there again,” he said.

“I’m going to do the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico, Basque Country and then the Tour de Romandie for the first block of the season. When you look at it on paper, it doesn’t seem a lot but the race days add up quite quickly. I’ll do a one-week race and have two or three weeks in between. That should let me hopefully get to each race in good shape and ready to perform.”

Hayter is now 27 and has faced a series of obstacles in his professional career. They have knocked him back, but he has always quietly fought back.

He has never ridden the Tour de France but hopes to do so in 2027 when the race starts in Britain. The track events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games are another goal.

Hayter was Omnium and Team Pursuit world champion in 2022 and won a silver medal with Great Britain in the team pursuit at the 2024 Paris Olympics. In the Team Pursuit final for gold against Australia, Hayter gave his all to help drag Great Britain back into contention but slipped off his saddle on the last lap. He was hugely disappointed, but it has not hit his desire to again race on the track.

“I’d like to do more, to be honest, I enjoy it,” he said.

“I couldn’t ride the track all the time, but it’s just nice to mix it up. I enjoy a few types of bike racing, and luckily, I get to do them. The Omnium or the Madison are pure racing for me. There are no team tactics, it’s just it’s just racing really stripped back to the basics.”

Sadly, the UCI calendars and qualification rules hamper riders from combining WorldTour road racing and track.

“I’d like to keep racing on the track, and I will probably come back to the Olympics. I’d like to do the Worlds at the end of the season too, depending on how things go,” Hayter said.

“To do the World Cups, you have to score points beforehand, and then the Europeans and the World Cups are either bad timing for me or halfway across the world.”

“I’ve hopefully got quite a few years left of my career. I wouldn’t want to end my career without riding the Tour de France. I don’t think it’ll be this year, but next year would be quite nice.”