"They didn't really know where to use me" - Ethan Hayter explains departure from British team
Cycling
Ethan Hayter is one of the riders who has left INEOS Grenadiers this winter and is now racing for Soudal - Quick-Step where he is finding new motivation after a rough period. He talks about both teams and his goals for 2025 now that he finds himself in a team with more freedom.
"The last two seasons I have won less and that also had to do with planning. Sometimes I did too much and it is also a snowball effect; if you win less, you get fewer chances because you win less," Hayter said in words to In de Leiderstrui. "I like to help riders and INEOS, for example, has simply performed well in the grand tours, with podium places and so on".
"But ultimately, the managers only care about what you show as a leader, not as a helper," he shares. "That's what you get paid for, so that made it tricky. And I love winning so much. It gives you a purpose and that's why I started cycling. The last few years I just haven't been as good as I'd hoped".
Hayter developed as an enormously talented rider, who could sprint, time-trial, climb and even do stage-races with quite a lot of success (the Briton has the Tour de Pologne and Tour of Norway in his palmarès). He seemed to have struggled a lot in recent years with positioning, stripping him of his chances to take results in sprints and instead becoming more of a puncheur. This year he was largely absent, but then won the British national championships. But even despite this, he did not get an offer from the team to renew.
"We never really asked INEOS Grenadiers if we could stay longer and they didn't make an offer. We both knew what was going on and I understand it from INEOS' perspective," Hayter states. "I think I didn't really fit into their plans, they didn't really know where to use me. As a result, they didn't get value for money in this business".
Hayter also wanted to be a leader and feel his own value within the team. A departure was imminent, and it was last summer that Soudal - Quick-Step came into the picture. "When I heard about the interest of this team somewhere in July, I got excited. Riding for a team with such a culture and history, that made me happy. I followed my heart in that".
Hayter does not have too many plans already out there, but is said to be racing the Volta a Catalunya, Itzulia Basque Country and the Tour de Romandie this spring - all races with plenty hilly days where he can succeed. "I want to enjoy the races again, because I have always loved cycling. If they only change your program at the last minute, then cycling can start to feel like work and that is not what you want".
Last season that very much was the case, he has only ridden one Grand Tour in his career and it was the 2022 Vuelta a España. "In 2024 I have been racing for more than a month, I went from one race to the other. That was too much, then you no longer perform at your best level".
Where can he win? "On a good course I can be close to the best in a time trial on a good day," he responds. "Time trialing just takes a lot of focus, effort and hours to be good at it. In 2022 I was really good, but in the years after that it was other riders who got the newest bikes first. Those bikes were also designed for them, not for me. I stopped going to the wind tunnels and also struggled with the material of sponsors, such as the saddle and the chamois in my pants. If you get into trouble and miss hours because of that, it will be at the expense of your time trial results".
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