"Our best rider is not here" - Ethan Hayter admits “it’s a bit unexpected" to be replacing Tom Pidcock at Il Lombardia

Tom Pidcock has been the talk of the cycling world after his notable omission from INEOS Grenadiers' Il Lombardia lineup and the Brit's subsequent Instagram post. Although the discussion of whether Pidcock and INEOS' relationship has reached breaking point has gripped social media, spare a thought for the man drafted in to replace Pidcock, Ethan Hayter.

Riding what is potentially his own INEOS Grenadiers swansong as the British national champion departs for a new challenge at Soudal - Quick-Step at the end of 2024, Hayter was called up at the last minute to replace Pidcock at the behest of INEOS management themselves.

“It’s a bit unexpected," Hayter admits honestly in a pre-Il Lombardia interview with VTM Nieuws from the start line in Bergamo. "I don’t know what happened with Pidcock. We obviously want to finish well, but the goals are a bit different because our best rider is not here. We don’t know the full story. Will Tom leave the team? He still has a contract. We’ll see what happens...”

As mentioned, according to INEOS Grenadiers' sports director Zak Dempster, in conversation with Cycling News, the last minute call to drop Pidcock from the team's Il Lombardia lineup came from management level. "Obviously, I'm not stupid - it does look strange, but, the reality is that the team has the right to select the team they feel fits it," he explained on Saturday morning. "That's all the information I have at the moment. it was a management decision on the final team, that's their right and here we are without Tom. We have a process in place where we have a long list of riders and then those final seven names that go on the list - it can be a performance decision, and in this case, it was a management decision."