Hayden Roulston (born 10 January 1981, in Ashburton) is a former New Zealand professional

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling s ...

. He won the silver medal in the men's 4000 m individual pursuit and a bronze medal in the men's 4000 m team pursuit at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He won the New Zealand road cycling championships on four occasions (2006, 2011, 2013, 2014), the Tour of Southland on three occasions (2006, 2007, 2008) and came tenth in the 2010 edition of Paris - Roubaix.

Professional career

Roulston was a talented junior rider on both road and track and competed for New Zealand on the track and initially on the road for a club team in France. He turned professional with the French team in 2002 where he remained for two seasons before moving to for 2005. His season with Discovery Channel featured some impressive rides but was interrupted by injury and eventually ended when he resigned after an incident in a Christchurch bar. He attempted to relaunch his professional road career in the US when he signed for Continental Pro team and began strongly with two top ten stage finishes in the

Tour of California The Tour of California (officially sponsored as the Amgen Tour of California) was an annual professional road cycling stage race on the UCI World Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour that ran from 2006 to 2019. It was the only event on the ...

beating many big name ProTour regulars. Unfortunately for Roulston his first year at HealthNet ended when a medical examination revealed irregular heart activity and he was advised to stop riding immediately. Back home in New Zealand he experimented with some alternative remedies and was soon back riding – and winning. Without a contract but still motivated to ride he won the National Road Race title in 2006 and back to back

Tour of Southland The Tour of Southland is a road bicycle racing stage race held in the Southland region of New Zealand. From 2005 until 2009, the Tour of Southland has been part of the UCI Oceania Tour however the 2010 event was held as a National Tour. The To ...

and Tour of Wellington titles in 2006 and 2007. In addition to the road races he returned to the track and won several titles at the New Zealand and Oceania track championships. Roulston had invested a six-figure sum with a New Zealand company that failed in October 2007 during the

global financial crisis Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

. Roulston confided in Craig Adair, a track cycling gold medallist at the 1982 Commonwealth Games, that he was about to pull out of the preparations for the 2008 Summer Olympics, but Adair and four of his friends decided to provide finance for him during this difficult time, and Roulston continued with his preparations. Roulston was selected for the New Zealand team to compete at the 2008 World Track Championships in Manchester where he narrowly missed medals in the 4000 m individual pursuit (4th) and Team Pursuit (4th) as well as finishing 9th in the Madison with

Greg Henderson Gregory Henderson (born 10 September 1976) is a New Zealand former professional track and road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2017. His career includes winning the scratch race at the 2004 world championships and, in ...

. Having performed so strongly in Manchester, he was selected for the Beijing Olympics, where he focused on improving his 4th placed pursuit rides. Former New Zealand track coach Ron Cheatley suggested his best bet will be to drop the Madison and focus on the complementary pursuit events in much the same fashion as Kiwi pursuit rider

Sarah Ulmer Sarah Elizabeth Ulmer (born 14 March 1976) is a former Olympic cyclist. She is the first New Zealander to win an Olympic cycling gold medal, which she won in the 3km individual pursuit at the 2004 Athens Olympics setting a world record. Afte ...

. Ulmer quit road racing and focused solely on her pursuit preparation before the 2004 Athens Olympics where she went on to smash the world record and take the gold medal in the women's 3000 m individual pursuit. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Roulston won the silver medal in the 4000 m individual pursuit, defeated in the gold medal race by

Bradley Wiggins Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but later made the transition to r ...

. He also featured as a member of the bronze medal-winning New Zealand

team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

squad, although he did not race in the qualifying rounds. He came 10th in the Madison with his teammate

. In September 2008, Roulston announced that he would be riding for

Cervélo TestTeam Cervélo TestTeam () is a former professional cycling team, whose license was held in Switzerland by the cycling management company Cycling United Racing. The team's title sponsor was Cervélo, a Canadian manufacturer of bicycle frames that pr ...

in 2009, with riders including reigning

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

champion

Carlos Sastre Carlos Sastre Candil (; born 22 April 1975) is a former Spanish professional road bicycle racer and winner of the 2008 Tour de France. He consistently achieved outstanding results in the Vuelta a España and in the Tour de France. Sastre establ ...

and multiple Tour de France stage winner

Thor Hushovd Thor Hushovd (born 18 January 1978) is a Norwegian former professional road bicycle racer. He is known for sprinting and time trialing; Hushovd is a three-time Norwegian National Road Race Championships, Norwegian national road race champion ( ...

. In the 2009 Tour of California, Roulston began a perfectly executed lead out to allow team sprinter Thor Hushovd to win Stage 3. In stage 7 Roulston almost won the stage himself after breaking free from a ten-man breakaway that included

Fränk Schleck Fränk René Schleck (born 15 April 1980) is a Luxembourgish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2003 and 2016, for and . Schleck is the older brother of Andy, winner of the 2010 Tour de France. Their father, ...

George Hincapie George Anthony Hincapie (born June 29, 1973) is an American former racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 1994 and 2012. Hincapie was a key domestique of Lance Armstrong. Hincapie was also a domestique for Alberto Contador in 2007 a ...

and

Christian Vande Velde Christian Vande Velde (born May 22, 1976) is a retired American professional road racing cyclist of Belgian descent, who rode professionally between 1998 and 2013. Vande Velde competed for the , , and squads. He has been a cycling analyst for ...

. Roulston was 2nd after a photo finish with

Rinaldo Nocentini Rinaldo Nocentini (born 25 September 1977) is an Italian former professional racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 1999 and 2019 for the , , Formaggi Pinzolo Fiavé, , and teams. In the 2009 Tour de France, his first participati ...

. Roulston finished 35th overall. Roulston came fourth in the 194km

2010 Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne The 63rd edition of Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne was won by Dutch rider Bobby Traksel. The race was affected by heavy rainfall from start to finish. Only 26 riders finished. Race report The race was run in extreme weather, as the remnants of cyclon ...

race. In the cold and windy conditions, Roulston

and

Jeremy Hunt Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since 14 October 2022. He previously served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport ...

chased a three man breakaway which led to Roulston finishing one minute behind the winner

Bobbie Traksel Bobbie Traksel (born 3 November 1981 in Tiel) is a Dutch former professional racing cyclist. In 2000, Traksel showed considerable promise by winning the Under-23 version of the Tour of Flanders and turned professional in 2001 with . In 2002, Tra ...

. In April 2010, Hayden Roulston came 10th in the 259 kilometre Paris-Roubaix race. He finished almost seven minutes behind the winner

Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara (born 18 March 1981), nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He was born in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland. Cancellara began ...

. The Paris - Roubaix is one of the five "monuments" or most important races of the cycling season. Roulston came second in the Men's road race at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

, winning the silver medal. Roulston was sick leading up to the race. The 168km race was run in very hot conditions in Delhi. He said of the race "The whole plan today was to make the race hard. We had no choice, we've got no sprinter and the world's fastest sprinters are here so for us to execute it like we did, I think the boys should be really proud". In December 2010, Hayden Rouston won the 80 kilometre Festival of Cycling in Christchurch. Hayden Roulston spent his last few seasons riding as a key domestique for Fabian Cancellara at

Trek Factory Racing Trek or Treck may refer to: Art and entertainment * Trek (band), Russian rock band * Trek (TV channel), a French TV channel * '' Star Trek'', a science fiction franchise * Jan Jansz. Treck (1606–1652), still-life painter Companies * Trek ...

. In October 2015 Roulston announced his retirement from road racing, having previously revealed that he would make a return to the track with a view to competing in the team pursuit at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Hayden Roulston competed in March 2016 in Le Race with the intent of obtaining a "good, intensive training ride". He won the 100 kilometre race from Cathedral Square in Christchurch to Akaroa dominating in the cross winds and forcing the pace on the climb to Hilltop. He said of the win "I haven't won for a long time so it's always nice to get the result. I wanted a hard day out and I definitely got that."

Major results

;2002 : 2nd Overall Tour of Wellington ::1st Stage 2 : 3rd Bronze medal blank

Team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

;2003 : 1st Stage 7

Tour de Pologne The Tour de Pologne ( Polish: ''Wyścig Dookoła Polski'', English: ''Tour of Poland'', official abbreviation TdP,) is an annual, professional men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in Poland. It consists of seven or eight stages ...

: 2nd

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

(with

UCI Track World Championships The UCI Track Cycling World Championships are the set of world championship events for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling. They are regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale. Before 1900, they were administered by the UCI ...

: 2nd Overall

Tour de Vineyards The Tour de Vineyards is a road cycling race held around Tasman Bay, New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the ...

::1st Stages 2 & 3 ;2004 : 1st Stage 1

Tour de Wallonie The Tour de Wallonie is a stage race cycling race on the UCI Europe Tour. It runs in Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northw ...

: 1st Stage 3

: 2nd

Tour du Doubs The Tour du Doubs is a single-day road bicycle race, currently held annually in September in the region of Doubs, France. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road ...

: 3rd Road race, National Road Championships ;2006 : 1st MaillotNuevaZelanda

Road race, National Road Championships : National Track Championships ::1st MaillotNuevaZelanda

Individual pursuit ::1st MaillotNuevaZelanda

Team pursuit : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour of Wellington ::1st Stages 3, 5 & 6 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stages 1, 2 & 3 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 1 : 1st Stage 2 McLane Pacific Classic : 2nd Silver medal blank

Points race A points race is a mass start track cycling event involving large numbers of riders simultaneously on track. It was an Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 18 ...

;2007 : 1st OceaniaChampionJersey

Road race, Oceania Road Championships : 1st OceaniaChampionJersey

Madison, Oceania Track Championships : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour of Wellington ::1st Stages 1, 4 & 6 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

: 1st Pegasus Subway Classic ;2008 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour des

Deux Sevres Deux and D'eux means "of them" or "about them" while also being the number "two" in French. *2 (number), the natural number following 1 and preceding 3 **Two (disambiguation) *Folie à deux, a rare psychiatric syndrome Geography * Deux Montagne ...

::1st Prologue : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

: Tour of Wellington ::1st Stages 4 & 6 :

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

::2nd

Individual pursuit The individual pursuit is a track cycling event where two cyclists begin the race from a stationary position on opposite sides of the track. It is held at over for men and for women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the ...

::3rd

: 3rd Overall

::1st Stages 2 & 3 ;2009 : 1st Stage 1 ( TTT)

: 7th Overall

Ster Elektrotoer The ZLM Tour is a cycling race held over five stages, held in the southern Netherlands and Belgium as a 2.Pro race on the UCI ProSeries The UCI ProSeries is the second tier men's elite road cycling tour. It was inaugurated in 2020. The serie ...

;2010 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

: 1st Stage 1 ( TTT)

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the ...

: 1st Stage 6

Danmark Rundt Danmark Rundt is a Danish stage race for professional road bicycle racers organized as a part of the UCI Continental Circuits. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, PostNord, and the race is therefore also known as Po ...

: 2nd

Road race,

: 4th

Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne is an annual single-day road cycling race in Belgium. It is held one day after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, on the last Sunday of February or the first of March, and completes the opening weekend of the Belgian cycling season ...

: 10th

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the ' Monuments' or classics of th ...

:1st Festival of Cycling ;2011 : 1st MaillotNuevaZelanda

Road race, National Road Championships :

::1st Stages 4 & 8 ;2013 : 1st MaillotNuevaZelanda

Road race, National Road Championships ;2014 : 1st MaillotNuevaZelanda

Road race, National Road Championships ;2016 : 1st Le Race

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roulston, Hayden 1981 births Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Living people Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand male cyclists Olympic bronze medalists for New Zealand Olympic cyclists of New Zealand Olympic silver medalists for New Zealand New Zealand track cyclists Olympic medalists in cycling Cyclists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Ashburton, New Zealand People educated at Ashburton College Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games