'There have been a couple of issues occurring' – Ethan Hayter received 5 time trials in 2025 however a diet downside disrupted his street racing

Ethan Hayter received 5 time trials in 2025 and went near total victory within the Tour of Belgium. From the skin, his first season at Soudal-QuickStep appeared like a hit, and the likeable, quiet-speaking British rider appeared on the way in which again to the nice type he confirmed early in his profession at Ineos Grenadiers.

Nonetheless, outcomes and social media reveal little of the complexities and ache of WorldTour racing.

“Possibly there’s much more occurring in bike races than individuals notice,” Hayter informed Cyclingnews and Biking Weekly on the current Soudal-QuickStep coaching camp in Spain.

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“I simply struggled a bit in 2025 to be sincere, with a couple of issues,” Hayter defined, step by step revealing extra.

“The staff was nice, however I had a tough begin, and it took me a short time to settle in, getting used to being on one other staff. I’ve by no means had an actual job, however in case you change jobs, it most likely takes a little bit of time to settle in with new individuals. I suppose I actually needed to show myself a bit to the staff, however I overdid it and received sick a few occasions.

“Then I received COVID-19 on the Tour de Pologne. I completed the season fairly properly, however I simply had the sensation that I wasn’t tremendous happy; it was an up-and-down season.”

Hayter is a vastly gifted rider however has struggled to constantly compete at his greatest through the years. After skirting round the reason for his 2025 issues for ten minutes of our interview, he revealed a particular dietary downside that affected him considerably.

“I wasn’t actually performing bodily anyplace close to the place I might be, to be sincere. There have been a couple of issues occurring,” he stated, slowly opening up about his downside.

“I struggled with altering diet manufacturers. Diet is kind of private, is not it? For 90% of the fellows, altering is okay, however then there’s at all times one or two who’ve issues.”

Soudal-QuickStep works with Belgian model 6d Sports activities Diet, with the staff’s success indicating most riders carry out properly utilizing their drinks, gels and bars. Hayter sees it as his downside and is working with 6d Sports activities Diet to resolve his issues.

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“Diet is kind of particular person, and it took me some time to form of discover what labored for me,” he defined.

“I used to be simply getting actually bloated from sure merchandise, and I believe I simply wasn’t digesting it correctly. I would do a protracted race, and once I’d usually been fairly good, I used to be simply getting dropped.

“Possibly my weight administration was a bit off since you’re fairly finely tuned with this stuff. For those who’re then not processing stuff correctly, you get bloated, you might have abdomen points. You then attempt to eat extra different occasions to compensate and it is arduous to handle that properly.

“We have been engaged on it over the winter and hopefully I will be higher this 12 months, fingers crossed.”

Hayter’s issues affected him in lengthy races however not for brief efforts reminiscent of time trials. His time trial abilities and dialled-in place on Soudal-QuickStep’s Specialised bike helped win 5 totally different time trials throughout 2025, together with the British nationwide title. He was additionally third in the important thing Giro d’Italia time trial to Pisa, simply 9 seconds slower than winner Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek) and Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers).

“When it was lower than an hour, I may go and do a very good effort on the TT bike. I may go and do my factor,” Hayter stated.

“I used to be lucky to have such good tools, even when I used to be bodily off tempo, I would be good in time trials.”

Focusing on stage races with time trial in 2026

Hayter is within the second and closing 12 months of his Soudal-QuickStep contract. He has a distinct race programme for 2026, geared toward profiting from his time trial expertise and his sprinting abilities in hillier races.

He won’t trip the Tour de France regardless of the opening staff time trial in Barcelona, with a trip on the Vuelta a España a part of his 2026 schedule. Hayter has received the Tour de Pologne and the Tour of Norway prior to now.

“I am concentrating on extra one-week races this 12 months. Most of them have a TT, and hopefully some cut back sprints so I can attempt to be aggressive there once more,” he stated.

“I will do the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico, Basque Nation after which the Tour de Romandie for the primary block of the season. While you take a look at it on paper, it does not appear loads however the race days add up fairly rapidly. I am going to do a one-week race and have two or three weeks in between. That ought to let me hopefully get to every race in fine condition and able to carry out.”

Hayter is now 27 and has confronted a sequence of obstacles in his skilled profession. They’ve knocked him again, however he has at all times quietly fought again.

He has by no means ridden the Tour de France however hopes to take action in 2027 when the race begins in Britain. The monitor occasions on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Video games are one other objective.

Hayter was Omnium and Staff Pursuit world champion in 2022 and received a silver medal with Nice Britain within the staff pursuit on the 2024 Paris Olympics. Within the Staff Pursuit closing for gold in opposition to Australia, Hayter gave his all to assist drag Nice Britain again into rivalry however slipped off his saddle on the final lap. He was vastly upset, nevertheless it has not hit his need to once more race on the monitor.

“I would love to do extra, to be sincere, I take pleasure in it,” he stated.

“I could not trip the monitor on a regular basis, nevertheless it’s simply good to combine it up. I take pleasure in a couple of sorts of bike racing, and by chance, I get to do them. The Omnium or the Madison are pure racing for me. There are not any staff ways, it is simply it is simply racing actually stripped again to the fundamentals.”

Sadly, the UCI calendars and qualification guidelines hamper riders from combining WorldTour street racing and monitor.

“I would prefer to hold racing on the monitor, and I’ll most likely come again to the Olympics. I would love to do the Worlds on the finish of the season too, relying on how issues go,” Hayter stated.

“To do the World Cups, you need to rating factors beforehand, after which the Europeans and the World Cups are both unhealthy timing for me or midway internationally.”

“I’ve hopefully received fairly a couple of years left of my profession. I would not wish to finish my profession with out using the Tour de France. I do not assume it will be this 12 months, however subsequent 12 months can be fairly good.”