Ethan Hayter discussion thread

[TMP402]

I am prompted to start this thread by another win in a stage race - Norway this time. So far this year he has won a stage and finished in the top 10 of the Algarve, Andalucía and Coppi e Bartali. Call him the King of the 2.1s.

Last year he had a pretty impressive start; as a Team GB endurance trackie (World and European champion, and this summer Olympic Silver medallist), I would have assumed he'd be the normal "company man" and just serve leaders for a few years a la Jon Dibben or Owain Doull, hope to make a Vuelta squad in his second or third year, and then maybe take his chances in his third or fourth year, but instead he was raring to go in - in the shortened 2020 season, he registered several top-10s in late-season hilly Italian semi-classics, and won the Giro dell'Appennino.

He had a pretty good junior career on cobbled classics (although some junior races barely have any cobbles compared to senior versions), and, while still clearly focusing on the track, his 2018 and 2019 seasons show a lot of promise. At the 2018 U-23 World TTs, he was behind only Mikkel Bjerg, Brent van Moer, Mathias Norsgaard and Edoardo Affini. At the 2018 U-23 World Road Race (which Marc Hirschi won), he was 8th, in a small group with Pogacar and Hindley. Then in 2019 he won two stages and the points jersey at the Babygiro, a stage at the Tour de l'Avenir, and 10th at London–Surrey (not bad for an u23 riding for the national team).

It's still difficult for me to know if he is a punchy sprinter, a sprinty puncheur, a new van Aert or van der Poel, a future GT contender, or something else. In any case, he is currently as sure a bet to do the top-10+stage win double in week-long races as Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel are to win them overall.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

He definitely surprised me last season when he came out all guns blazing in the Italian one day races and Coppi e Bartali. As you say I'd have thought he would have a similar early trajectory to Doull and Dibben, however i'd say he was more successul as an u23 with good results in higher level races. I do wonder how long Hayter (and his madison partner Walls) will balance both track and road. He might have said in an interview but i cant remember or find anything.

 

[SafeBet]

He definitely surprised me last season when he came out all guns blazing in the Italian one day races and Coppi e Bartali. As you say I'd have thought he would have a similar early trajectory to Doull and Dibben, however i'd say he was more successul as an u23 with good results in higher level races. I do wonder how long Hayter (and his madison partner Walls) will balance both track and road. He might have said in an interview but i cant remember or find anything.

Yeah that's interesting. I guess the Olympic year requires a bit more time/resources/dedication for track compared to other years?
Hayter has shown good recovery, in addition to his climbing and excellent sprint. Ineos will want to test him in WT one week stage races next year.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

I was thinking about which rider he is similar to and the best answer I could come up with was Ulissi. Is that way off?

 

[BlueRoads]

I was thinking about which rider he is similar to and the best answer I could come up with was Ulissi. Is that way off?

Hirschi?

 

[hayneplane]

Arguably similar to a less punchy Gilbert but with superior recovery abilities hence the top 10 GC results.

 

[SafeBet]

I think Ulissi is a fair comparison, although Diego improved his TT skills over time while Hayter looked great from the get go.
Hayter can develop into a more accomplished rider though, depending on bike handling, recovery, stamina (all things Ulissi kind of lacks at top level).

 

[Samu Cuenca]

It very much looks like he will get his first overall GC win in Norway, after he missed out on it in Algarve because of the ITT crash.
The question is if he's going to take two, three or possibly all four stages (he won't be the favourite in Stavanger though).

Right now it seems that he will become a more solid TTer than both Ulissi, Hirschi and Gilbert and possibly also a better bunch sprinter, but that will also depend on what he and the team decide to focus on in the future.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Ulissi or Ben Swift at his best with a better punch sounds about right to me.

 

[Pinot's goat]

He showed in 2018 track European Championships that he is a level above Dibben, Doull etc when he destroyed everyone including Viviani in the Omnium. Maybe the next Geraint Thomas?

 

[Nirvana]

Ulissi or Ben Swift at his best with a better punch sounds about right to me.

IMHO there is a big difference between Ulissi and Swift skillsets, anyway if he can add endurance and recovery to Ulissi level climbing, punch and TT plus Swift level sprinting he could become a potentially very but very good rider. At the moment to me he looks similar to Sagan when he burst onto the scene, maybe a bit slower in a flat sprint.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

I think Ulissi is a fair comparison, although Diego improved his TT skills over time while Hayter looked great from the get go.
Hayter can develop into a more accomplished rider though, depending on bike handling, recovery, stamina (all things Ulissi kind of lacks at top level).

Yeah, that was my thought as well. He does seem to have a better ITT from the get go (Ulissi improved a lot in that department) and better recovery as well (which has always been the achilles heel of Ulissi).

Hayter seems like a very complete rider and I'm looking forward to see what he can do from here on when he won't focus as much on the track as he previously has.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Yeah that's interesting. I guess the Olympic year requires a bit more time/resources/dedication for track compared to other years?
Hayter has shown good recovery, in addition to his climbing and excellent sprint. Ineos will want to test him in WT one week stage races next year.

I think so, considering his last race on the road was in May. I don't no about other countries, but British Cycling has a large holding camp at the welsh national velodrome in Newport, which is a couple of weeks long. They also have some other training session weeks up in Manchester at the GB base prior to this aswell I believe, so probably at least a month on the lead up to flying over to Tokyo. This year they had those Hope Lotus bikes which were quite different from the Cervelo's they used from just before Rio 2016 to now so those might've taken a bit of getting used to.

 

[Bushman]

He reminds me a lot of Geraint Thomas. He has a slightly smaller frame and perhaps he is just a bit more punchy than Thomas but they are very similar in attributes. Thomas was a better time-trialist early on while Hayter is the better sprinter but that is mostly down to focus imo.
I’m not sure which direction he will go but I’m pretty confident that he will be a star in the cycling scene no matter What he chooses.

 

[Eclipse]

I do wonder how long Hayter (and his madison partner Walls) will balance both track and road. He might have said in an interview but i cant remember or find anything.

Think with the next Olympics only 3 years away that they'll keep it open until then.

I'd guess he'll probably ride a mixed program the next couple of seasons, give the team and himself some time to evaluate whether he's growing into a particular type of rider. Then one more season with a heavy Olympics focus before probably cracking on for particular road goals

 

[lemon cheese cake]

He held onto the overall in Norway today. A quiet start to the season at Etoile de Besseges, but he's been pretty strong in every 2.1 and 2.Pro race ever since Coppi e Bartoli. Out of 21 days of Stage racing since the final stage of Besseges, he's only been out of the top ten three times (only 7 days out of the whole 25 stage racing days).

And his madison partner Matt Walls also won the final stage.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

If he's riding the Tour of Britain he might rack up some more 2.Pro wins, though Van Aert won't be easy to beat.

 

[TMP402]

Well I guess we learned some things today. Not elite level on the steep?

 

[BlueRoads]

Well I guess we learned some things today. Not elite level on the steep?

Elite level, yes, but not the best.

 

[SafeBet]

Well I guess we learned some things today. Not elite level on the steep?

Not yet perhaps?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Hayter continues to be quite consistent and rarely misses out completely, and that is not a bad skill to have. The Gateshead stage will probably be his best remaining chance for a stage win here, but it will still be a huge ask to beat Van Aert when he's on good form.

 

[hayneplane]

Well I guess we learned some things today. Not elite level on the steep?

Elite level but just not at that next step with the generational talents in this terrain.

I thought he rode a very measured and mature finale knowing his limits and riding tempo to avoid trying to match the violent bursts that could have seen him blow out and lose 20+ seconds in the last KM.

 

[TMP402]

Elite level but just not at that next step with the generational talents in this terrain.

I thought he rode a very measured and mature finale knowing his limits and riding tempo to avoid trying to match the violent bursts that could have seen him blow out and lose 20+ seconds in the last KM.

Sorry, my initial comment was hastily written and rather flippant. My point is, he probably isn't yet likely to be contesting that monument/WC final selection of like Pog/Rog/Ala/WVA/MVDP(/Evenepoel?), but will surely come a very solid 8th.

 

[hayneplane]

Sorry, my initial comment was hastily written and rather flippant. My point is, he probably isn't yet likely to be contesting that monument/WC final selection of like Pog/Rog/Ala/WVA/MVDP(/Evenepoel?), but will surely come a very solid 8th.

Seems fair. Strong rider on punchy terrain who could win a big classic or even a monument if the stars align but won’t start as a pre race favourite to be heavily marked much like Stuyven and Mollema in recent years.

 

[TMP402]

Younger brother Leo (aged 20) dedicated his U23 LBL win to Ethan, whose 23rd birthday it was on Sunday. Sounds like quite a win:

"My first win in the u23 category today, and what a race to do it at. After 140km in the break and 16km solo from the first ascent of the La Redoute, Liege Bastogne Liege is mine!"

https://twitter.com/x/status/1439308205071425538

View: https://twitter.com/leohayter/status/1439308205071425538