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]

Rob Hayles
Hayles at the 2009 Tour Series in Milton Keynes
Personal information
Full nameRobert John Hayles
Born (1973-01-21) 21 January 1973 (age 51)
Portsmouth, England[1]
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Weight80 kg (176 lb)[2]
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineTrack & Road
RoleRider
Amateur teams
1994Team Haverhill-Taylor's Foundry
1995All Media-Futurama
1996–1997Team Ambrosia
1998Team Brite
1999Tony Doyle Ltd-Clarkes Contracts
Professional teams
2001–2003Cofidis
2005Recycling.co.uk–MG X-Power
2007Team KLR-Parker International
2009Team Halfords
2010–2011Endura Racing
Major wins
Road

One-day races and Classics

National Road Race Championships (2008)
Track
World Championships
Madison (2005)
Team pursuit (2005)

Career

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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In March 2008 he was withdrawn from the Great Britain team at the world track championships in Manchester,[5] and was suspended for 14 days after a blood test showed a haematocrit 0.3% above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.

Personal life

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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]

Major results

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Road

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1996
Tour de Langkawi
1st Stages 2 (TTT) & 7
1997
2nd Overall Premier Calendar
2000
1st   National Criterium Championships
2004
1st Stage 7 Tour de Normandie
2008
1st   Road race, National Championships
1st Beaumont Trophy
1st Tour of Pendle
1st Blackpool Grand Prix[11]
2nd National Criterium Championships
2009
2nd National Criterium Championships
2nd Colne Town Centre Grand Prix[12]

Track

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1993
1st   Kilo, National Championships
1994
National Championships
1st   Kilo
1st   Madison (with Bryan Steel)
2nd   Team pursuit, Commonwealth Games
1995
1st   Madison, National Championships (with Russell Williams)
1996
1st   Points race, National Championships
1997
National Championships
1st   Points race
1st   Individual pursuit
1st   Madison (with Russell Williams)
1998
National Championships
1st   Points race
1st   Individual Pursuit
1st   Madison (with Jon Clay)
2nd   Team pursuit, Commonwealth Games
1999
National Championships
1st   Points race
1st   Individual pursuit
1st   Madison (with Bradley Wiggins)
2000
National Championships
1st   Points race
1st   Individual pursuit
UCI World Championships
2nd   Team pursuit
3rd   Individual pursuit
2nd Six Days of Grenoble (with Bradley Wiggins)
3rd   Team pursuit, Olympic Games
2003
2nd   Team pursuit, UCI World Championships
3rd Individual pursuit, National Championships
2004
UCI World Championships
2nd   Individual pursuit
2nd   Team pursuit
Olympic Games
2nd   Team pursuit
3rd   Madison (with Bradley Wiggins)
2005
UCI World Championships
1st   Madison (with Mark Cavendish)
1st   Team pursuit
2006
Commonwealth Games
1st   Team pursuit
2nd   Individual pursuit
2nd   Team pursuit, UCI World Championships

References

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  1. ^ a b "Rob Hayles – Olympic Record". British Olympic Association. Archived from the original on 24 February 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
  2. ^ a b "Official website of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth". Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
  3. ^ "Three-time Olympic medallist Rob Hayles retires from cycling". BBC Sport. BBC. 31 October 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  4. ^ Wynn, Nigel (15 June 2012). "Tour de France 2012: British Eurosport live schedule". Cycling Weekly.
  5. ^ "Hayles suspended after blood test". BBC Sport. 26 March 2008.
  6. ^ "Hayles gets racing licence back". BBC Sport. 11 April 2008.
  7. ^ "Cycling: Rowing ace Romero takes aim for Beijing cycling gold". The Independent. 9 July 2008.
  8. ^ Bowden, Alex (11 November 2016). "Portsmouth cycling stalwart and ex-wrestler John Hayles – father of Rob – dies". road.cc.
  9. ^ Tim Maloney (29 January 2006). Hayles is a dad. cyclingnews.com
  10. ^ "Rob Hayles Profile". Mission Sports Management.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ "Cycle Fest is a winner for Fylde". Blackpool Gazette. 7 July 2008. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  12. ^ Hickmott, Larry (14 July 2009). "Colne Town Centre Grand Prix". British Cycling. Retrieved 10 March 2019.

Further reading

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