Hayles at the 2009 Tour Series in Milton Keynes
|
|
Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Robert John Hayles |
Born |
Portsmouth, England |
21 January 1973
Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) |
Weight | 80 kg (180 lb) |
Team information | |
Current team | Retired |
Discipline | Track & Road |
Role | Rider |
Amateur team(s) | |
1994 | Team Haverhill-Taylor's Foundry |
1995 | All Media-Futurama |
1996–1997 | Team Ambrosia |
1998 | Team Brite |
1999 | Tony Doyle Ltd-Clarkes Contracts |
Professional team(s) | |
2001–2003 | Cofidis |
2005 | Recycling.co.uk–MG X-Power |
2007 | Team KLR-Parker International |
2008–2009 | Team Halfords Bikehut |
2010–2011 | Endura Racing |
Major wins | |
Medal record
|
Robert John "Rob" 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. He now occasionally provides studio-based analysis of cycle races for British Eurosport.
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 pursuit. He was in pursuit team that came third and rode the madison with Bradley Wiggins, finishing fourth.
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.
In March 2008 he was withdrawn from the Great Britain team at the world track championships in Manchester, and was suspended for 14 days after a blood test showed a 0.3% above the limit. His licence was restored after two weeks. 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.
He won the 2008 national road championships but was not selected squad for the Beijing Olympics.
On 1 November 2008 he returned to the team pursuit for the Manchester round of the World Cup series.