Leo Hayter has said that he "felt like he was racing rather than being part of a race" at the Tour of Norway, in a recent social media post about how he has re-found his love of the sport.
Younger brother of Ineos Grenadiers talent Ethan, Leo Hayter rides for the Team DSM development squad as he learns the ropes of racing in the professional peloton.
The 20-year-old, who recently joined the new cycling agency run by Anthony Joshua, has admitted he struggled in recent years to really enjoy racing, but in a social media post Hayter said he'd found the joy of racing his bike again during the Tour of Norway.
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In the post to his social media channels he said: "It finally clicked today in the Tour of Norway. I've had a really tough few years and I think it's clear I've struggled to adapt to racing at this level."
Hayter added that he needed to take a month off back in May, as he went from cycling being his life to "suddenly not wanting to have anything to do with it".
"I'd like to thank my team, and more specifically my coach Roy for pushing me through the darkest times when I felt helpless," he continued.
"It was a process that was far from smooth, but I finally feel happy to be riding and racing my bike"
pic.twitter.com/opj9TwjIyKAugust 21, 2021
Hayter was a key rider at the Tour of Norway for his team as he took long pulls on the front of the peloton, and also went on the attack on stage three with the likes of Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal).
This is where it finally clicked for Leo Hayter, he said, as he competed alongside his brother, 22-year-old Ethan, who won the first two stages and the overall.
Leo said that the penultimate stage of the race, in which he finished in the front group behind winner Pedersen, really reminded him why he had chosen this career, saying that it was "the first time since 2019 that he really felt like he was racing rather than being part of a race."
Hi, I'm one of Cycling Weekly's content writers for the web team responsible for writing stories on racing, tech, updating evergreen pages as well as the weekly email newsletter. Proud Yorkshireman from the UK's answer to Flanders, Calderdale, go check out the cobbled climbs!
I started watching cycling back in 2010, before all the hype around London 2012 and Bradley Wiggins at the Tour de France. In fact, it was Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck's battle in the fog up the Tourmalet on stage 17 of the Tour de France.
It took me a few more years to get into the journalism side of things, but I had a good idea I wanted to get into cycling journalism by the end of year nine at school and started doing voluntary work soon after. This got me a chance to go to the London Six Days, Tour de Yorkshire and the Tour of Britain to name a few before eventually joining Eurosport's online team while I was at uni, where I studied journalism. Eurosport gave me the opportunity to work at the world championships in Harrogate back in the awful weather.
After various bar jobs, I managed to get my way into Cycling Weekly in late February of 2020 where I mostly write about racing and everything around that as it's what I specialise in but don't be surprised to see my name on other news stories.
When not writing stories for the site, I don't really switch off my cycling side as I watch every race that is televised as well as being a rider myself and a regular user of the game Pro Cycling Manager. Maybe too regular.
My bike is a well used Specialized Tarmac SL4 when out on my local roads back in West Yorkshire as well as in northern Hampshire with the hills and mountains being my preferred terrain.
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