Robert John Hayles (born 21 January 1973) is a former track and road racing cyclist, who rode for Great Britain and England on the track and several professional teams on the road. Hayles competed in the team pursuit and Madison events, until his retirement in 2011. [3] He now occasionally provides studio-based analysis of cycle races for British Eurosport. [4]
He first represented Great Britain in the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996, where he rode the team pursuit. Hayles represented England in the points race and team pursuit at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he won silver in the individual pursuit. He was a member of the pursuit team that came third, and rode the Madison with Bradley Wiggins, finishing fourth. [1]
From 2001 to 2003 Hayles rode for the Cofidis team in France.
During this time Hayles rode the Paris–Roubaix classic, one of cycling's five 'monuments', three times but was unable to finish the race on any occasion. Hayles still reports to love the paved classic despite his own poor fortune.[ citation needed ]
In March 2008 he was withdrawn from the Great Britain team at the world track championships in Manchester, [5] and was suspended for 14 days after a blood test showed a haematocrit 0.3% above the limit. His licence was restored after two weeks. [6] The rules regarding haematocrit testing for track cycling were subsequently changed as the resting period before an event can cause the red cell volume to exceed 50%, with subsequent blood tests often proving the riders to be clean.[ citation needed ]
He won the 2008 national road championships but was not selected to represent Great Britain in the Beijing Olympics. [7]
On 1 November 2008 he returned to the team pursuit for the Manchester round of the World Cup series.
As a child, Hayles lived in Cowplain, Hampshire and attended Padnell Junior School. Hayles' father John Hayles, who died in 2016, was an amateur racing cyclist who became a professional wrestler in his twenties. [8] Hayles lives in Hayfield, Derbyshire, with his wife, former Olympic swimmer Vicky Horner, and their daughter, born 23 January 2006. [9] [10]
Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but later made the transition to road cycling. He won world titles in four disciplines, and Olympic gold in three. He is the only rider to have won both World and Olympic championships on both the track and the road as well as winning the Tour de France. He has worn the leader's jersey in each of the three Grand Tours of cycling and held the world record in team pursuit on multiple occasions. He won a gold medal at four successive Olympic Games from 2004 to 2016, and held the record as Great Britain's most decorated Olympian with 8 medals until Jason Kenny won his 9th in 2021. He is the only rider to win both the Tour de France and Olympic Gold in the same year, winning them a week apart in 2012.
Brett Lancaster is an Australian former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2003 and 2016. Born in Shepparton, Victoria, Lancaster started cycle racing at the age of 14 in 1993. He spent four years riding for Ceramiche Panaria–Fiordo before moving to Team Milram in July 2006. In 2009 and 2010 he rode for Cervélo TestTeam, and rode for Garmin–Cervélo in 2011.
Gregory Henderson is a New Zealand former professional track and road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2017. His career includes winning the 15-kilometre (9.3-mile) scratch race at the 2004 world championships and, in road cycling, winning the points competition at the Tour de Georgia in 2005 and 2008.
Christopher Malcolm Newton is a road and track racing cyclist. Newton is a multiple world champion and triple Olympic medalist.
Cameron Meyer is an Australian former professional racing cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2009 to 2022.
Bryan Steel is an English former professional racing cyclist.
Peter Robert Kennaugh MBE is a Manx former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2010 and 2019 for Team Sky and Bora–Hansgrohe. In 2012 he won the gold medal as part of the Great Britain Team Pursuit team at the 2012 Summer Olympics, becoming the first Manxman in 100 years to win gold. On 5 April 2019, he announced that he was taking an indefinite break from professional cycling to focus on his mental health.
Steven James Burke is a former English track and road cyclist, who rode for the now disbanded Team Wiggins Le Col cycling team. He represented Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics, beating his pre Olympics personal best in the individual pursuit by eleven seconds, to take the bronze medal. He stood on the podium alongside his cycling idol, gold medallist Bradley Wiggins.
George Richard Atkins is a British former track and road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2014 and 2016. He was a member of British Cycling's Olympic Development Programme. In 2009 he won the junior race at the British National Road Race Championships. At the 2010 Commonwealth Games he won the silver medal in the track points race. After the Commonwealth Games Atkins took a break from the sport but returned in the summer of 2011.
Andrew David Tennant is an English former professional track and road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2021 for six different teams. During his career, Tennant won seven medals at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships, six gold medals at the UEC European Track Championships and a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Luke Durbridge is an Australian road and track cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Team Jayco–AlUla. Durbridge specialises in the individual time trial, road races, and various track cycling events.
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Dame Laura Rebecca Kenny, OLY is a British professional track and road cyclist who specialises in track endurance events, specifically the team pursuit, omnium, scratch race, elimination race and madison disciplines. With six Olympic medals, having won both the team pursuit and the omnium at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and madison at the 2020 Olympics, along with a silver medal from the team pursuit at the 2020 Olympics, she is both the most successful female cyclist, and the most successful British female athlete, in Olympic history.
Lauren Ellis is a New Zealand former road and track cyclist.
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Owain Daniel Doull is a Welsh road and track cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam EF Education–EasyPost. Doull specialises in the team pursuit on the track, and won a gold medal in the discipline at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro; as a result, he became the first Welsh-speaking athlete to win Olympic gold.
Sam Welsford is an Australian professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Bora–Hansgrohe.
Campbell Stewart is a New Zealand professional track and road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Team Jayco–AlUla. He represented his country at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, gaining two silver medals in the scratch race and points race, and the 2020 Summer Olympics, gaining a silver medal in the omnium.