British core around Tom Pidcock at Q36.5 set to strengthen! Four-time national champion who pushed Tadej Pogacar to within 0.09 seconds at La Vuelta reportedly nears move
Cycling
Ethan Hayter is reportedly closing in on a move to Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team for the 2027 season. The four-time British time-trial champion is expected to leave Soudal - Quick-Step when his contract expires at the end of the year.
According to journalist Daniel Benson, several sources have indicated that Hayter is now expected to sign for the ambitious Swiss ProTeam. Soudal - Quick-Step reportedly informed the 27-year-old early in the season that his two-year stay was unlikely to be extended, allowing potential suitors to become aware of his availability.
Q36.5 began showing interest during the summer, although an agreement was not immediately completed.
Neither team has officially announced the transfer and the prospective length of Hayter’s contract remains unknown.
Hayter shows his level at La Vuelta
Hayter is currently competing at the Vuelta a Espana, where he came within 0.09 seconds of winning the opening stage and has since spent close to 500km in breakaways. He completed the technical opening 9.4km time trial in Monaco in 10:57.23, averaging 51.489km/h. Only world champion Tadej Pogacar denied him a maiden Grand Tour victory and the first red jersey of the race, stopping the clock nine hundredths of a second quicker.
Hayter responded on Stage 2 by joining a breakaway which remained clear for almost 180km. He collected six bonus seconds to become the virtual race leader and was named the most combative rider, but lost 31 seconds after being caught before the uphill finish in Manosque.
Another attack followed on the cancelled third stage. Hayter won the intermediate sprint and would have moved into the virtual lead of the points classification, only for the points to be erased when severe rain and hail forced organisers to annul the entire stage.
By the end of Stage 11, he had accumulated approximately 400km at the front and collected three combativity prizes. A fourth breakaway on the shortened Stage 15 took that total close to 500km, while Hayter is also expected to contend in the flat 32km Stage 18 time trial to Jerez.
Those performances have come while his future remained unresolved. “It’s definitely tricky. I mean, it’s the first time I’ve been in this situation,” Hayter recently told Cycling News about his lack of a contract for 2027. “In the past, I was always either signed up, or I kind of knew it was pretty certain already. But it’s part of sport sometimes.”
Hayter in action at La Vuelta
Major experience on road and track
Hayter has collected 25 professional road victories since stepping up to World Tour level with INEOS in 2020. He won the Giro dell’Appennino during his first professional season before breaking through with nine victories in 2021. That campaign included two stages and the general classification at the Tour of Norway, two Vuelta a Andalucia stages and a Tour of Britain stage.
He added the Tour de Pologne overall title and two Tour de Romandie victories in 2022, then won WorldTour stages at Itzulia Basque Country and the Tour de Romandie the following season. Hayter became British road champion in 2024 before leaving INEOS to join Soudal – Quick-Step.
His first year with the Belgian team brought five individual time-trial victories, second overall at the Tour of Belgium and third in the Giro d’Italia time trial to Pisa. Hayter retained his British time-trial title in June 2026 by beating Connor Swift by 1:30, securing his fourth national championship in the discipline.
He is also a four-time track world champion, having won two team-pursuit and two omnium titles. Olympic silver medals followed in the Madison at Tokyo and the team pursuit at Paris 2024.
Q36.5 assemble British and Irish group
A move would reunite Hayter with Pidcock after the pair spent four seasons together at INEOS between 2021 and 2024. He would also join Fred Wright and Thomas Gloag to give Q36.5 four British riders under contract for next season.
Irish climber Eddie Dunbar is signed through 2027, while compatriot Liam O’Brien is among eight additions already announced by the team. Mauro Schmid, Pavel Bittner, Sebastian Berwick, Andrew August, Jan Castellon, Tom Crabbe and Niels Driesen complete the confirmed intake.
Hayter has previously identified making his Tour de France debut as one of his remaining career ambitions, with the race due to begin in Britain in 2027. Q36.5 would require an invitation as a ProTeam, but his reported arrival would add another British option to a squad already centred around Pidcock.
If the transfer is completed, Hayter will become Q36.5’s ninth new signing for 2027 and increase their British and Irish contingent to six riders.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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