Born in Ashburton in 1981, Hayden quickly developed into a talented junior rider on the both road and track and started competing for New Zealand on the track at age 17. At 19 years of age, Hayden moved to France and rode for a division 2 amateur club called Bressuire. After two strong 5 month stints where he won 2 races the first year, and 9 races the second year, Hayden signed professional with the French team Cofidis in 2002. Following this, Hayden was signed to the star studded Discovery Channel team in 2005.

After a brief break due to injury, Hayden wanted to race again and his dream was to win an Olympic medal. However, in 2006 he was diagnosed with arrhythmic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD). The rare heart disease affected the muscle of the right ventricle and can cause sudden death – forcing retirement at age 25. That was until a chance encounter with a Reiki practitioner, Julie, drastically changed his life and a few months later, in 2006, Hayden won the elite national Road Race title solo by a few minutes.

After winning the New Zealand elite title, Hayden went on to win his first of four Tour of Southland titles and first of three Tour of Wellington titles. In addition to road racing Hayden returned to the track and won several titles at the New Zealand and Oceania track championships in 2006 and 2007. From here his dream to win an Olympic medal started to come alive again.

Following a solid performance at the 2008 World Track Championships in Manchester, Hayden was selected to compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. There he won a silver medal in the 4000m individual pursuit and a Bronze medal in the 4000m team pursuit – the only New Zealand cyclist to win two medals at the same Olympics.

Following success at the Beijing Olympics, in September 2008 Hayden announced his return to the World Tour, with my signing to Cervélo Test Team. His performances led to back-to-back overseas professional road contracts on the World Tour for the next seven years. During this time Hayden rode for Cervélo Test Team, the famed HTC Highroad, Radioshack and Trek Factory Racing.

Hayden has had six professional wins, numerous podium finishes (including the 2009 Tour de France), four New Zealand Road National titles, rode in four Grand Tours and 19 Classics, including some monumental rides in support of Fabian Cancellara. Hayden also won the silver medal in the Men’s road race at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

In October 2016, Hayden announced his retirement from cycling and embarked on the next chapter of his career – with a mission of enabling others to realise their full potential. No matter what coaching package you decide is best for you, Hayden is really motivated to share with you the most valuable learnings he has acquired throughout a successful cycling career which has spanned almost 20 years.