Former British talent Leo Hayter (23) hopes for comeback after depression: "15 kilos heavier, but still the fastest time"

Hayter, who won the Giro and Liège-Bastogne-Liège during his junior career, rode for INEOS Grenadiers in 2023 and 2024. He rode his last race for the team in May 2024, before announcing his depression a few months later. “I reached breaking point before the Tour of Hungary. The whole journey there was full of panic attacks. I couldn't concentrate on anything.”

“Mentally, I've struggled a lot over the last five years. It's something I just tried to live with. I assumed I was lazy and that I had no motivation,” Hayter explained on his own website. "Last May, I hit rock bottom. I was completely stuck. I couldn't leave my apartment in Andorra; I could barely get out of bed. INEOS brought me home and put me in the care of a professional. There, I was diagnosed with depression."

The Brit is now on the mend and competed in the Catalan time trial championship in July. "426 days since I last pinned a number on, many many more since I last did a race I looked forward to.," he wrote on social media. "I’ve only been “training” for a few months, but the truth is that today is the result of a culmination of hard work over the last year and a half."

“Lots of therapy, frequent phone calls, overcoming doubts, shifting my mindset and above all, regaining the drive. I’m happy to say that I’m more confident than ever that a cyclist is what I want to be, but it’s not all I am.”

“I raced the Catalan time trial championship today. I was excited to do it, I spent the last few weeks preparing for it and executed a ride I’m really proud of. I had the fastest time of the day and honestly it’s one of the best time trial performances I’ve ever done, albeit 15kg heavier than when I was a pro. Step by step and all that,” Hayter said.

“For the first time in a long time I’m optimistic for the future. I want to return to professional cycling in 2026. My goal for the year is to finish on the podium of the Chrono des Nations in October, however to ride I need to be in a continental team...,” Hayter announced publicly in July.

There was a follow-up to that on Tuesday. "As you may have seen, I recently announced that I want to be back in the peloton in 2026. I am confident that I am mentally prepared to succeed. Is everything perfect? No. But part of this process is coming to terms with the fact that it will probably never be perfect. Learning how to overcome those difficult days, rather than blaming myself for them happening in the first place.‘

"Physically, I'm still not completely fit, I need to lose a lot of weight, and doing that in the right way takes a lot of time," Hayter admits. "Still, I wanted a goal to motivate me this year, so I decided to focus on the Chrono des Nations in October. I've neglected time trials in recent years, but it's something I enjoy and am quite good at! Performing in a road race after hours of racing, without any kilometers in my legs, is just not realistic this year. So this is a goal that is certainly optimistic, but also achievable."

”I would love to finish on the podium, but to be honest, I'll be happy if I can just put in my best performance on the time trial bike," he explains. "There's one problem: because it's a UCI 1.1 category race, I have to ride for a continental team or higher to be able to participate. I'm looking for a team that will let me ride the time trial. I don't need any external support or funding, I just need a jersey and a chance."

"Ideally, I would like to use my own bike and equipment. I can take care of all the branding. Ultimately, you don't stand a chance of performing at this level of time trial if all the details aren't right. I bought my Pinarello last year and put a lot of hours into it, so changing everything so late in the year just wouldn't work,” he says.

"Ideally, I would like to use my own bike and equipment. I can take care of all the branding. Ultimately, you don't stand a chance of performing at this level of time trial if all the details aren't right. I bought my Pinarello last year and put a lot of hours into it, so changing everything so late in the year just wouldn't work,” he says.