Ethan Hayter is the definition of a man in form. The cyclist recently returned from the inaugural multi-sport Glasgow 2018 European Championships having taken a gold and two bronze medals back home, but he is still hungry for more.

The 19-year-old cycling sensation, who on the back of a sensational 2018 has signed a trainee deal with Team Sky, claimed gold in the men’s Omnium in Glasgow as he narrowly edged out Italian Elie Viviani, as well as taking a bronze in the team pursuit and the Madison events.

“I definitely surpassed a lot of expectations,” Hayter said when reflecting on his time in Glasgow. “I was definitely confident of myself and my ability going in to it as I’d had some good races, I was on good form, but we’d been doing a lot of explosive training so it wasn’t that suited to the competitions I was doing.”

As well as a gold in the Omnium earlier this month, Hayter also clinched bronze in both the men’s team pursuit and in the madison alongside fellow Team England representative and Gold Coast medallist Oliver Wood.

With this month’s championships marking the halfway point in the current Olympic cycle, Hayter’s meteoric rise to prominence has put him firmly on the radar for selection to Tokyo in two years’ time as his attention turns towards the 2020 games.

“We more look at the big picture looking towards Tokyo, but I definitely surpassed people’s expectations of me.

“I was definitely hoping to medal, we were slightly disappointed with the team pursuit to be honest because we are the world champions and wanted to win that, but didn’t quite have the legs we needed.

“I knew it was possible to medal and win in the bunch races, but I knew it was going to be hard because of the high quality start lists and the fact that they were both Olympic races with the Olympic qualification at stake.”

Such has been Hayter’s success on the track that his performances have attracted the attention of plenty in the road scene, with the London-born rider recently agreeing to ride for Team Sky on a trainee contract for the remainder of 2018.

Following in the footsteps of fellow Team England medallist from Glasgow 2014, Sir Bradley Wiggins, who became the first British rider to win the Tour de France riding for Team Sky in 2012, Hayter is planning to use this experience on the road to enhance his hopes credentials as an Olympian in the making.

“It’s an amazing opportunity, I’m just looking forward to getting as much experience as I can and I think that’s what it’s all about for the next six months.

“On the road I’ll just be learning as much as I can, getting stronger and building the road up as much as I can without detracting from the Olympic events and performing at my best in Tokyo.”