Hayter, 21, will focus on track cycling until after the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo when he will switch attention to the road.

He spent part of the 2018 season as a trainee with Team Sky, who became Team Ineos in April this year.

"It's the best place for me to begin my career as a professional road rider," he said.

"And it's the best place for me to be with the Olympics coming up next year too."

Hayter won team pursuit gold at the 2018 World Championships before taking silver in the discipline at this year's event, where he also claimed bronze in the omnium.

On the road, he won the British national under-23 title this year and a stage of the Tour de l'Avenir - a prestigious race for under-23 national teams that has seen many of its winners go on to achieve professional success, including Ineos' Tour de France champion Egan Bernal.

He becomes the latest young prospect signed by Team Ineos in recent years, joining fellow Briton Tao Geoghegan Hart, Ireland's Eddie Dunbar, Ecuador's Jhonatan Narvaez, Russia's Pavel Sivakov, and Colombians Ivan Sosa and Bernal.

"Ethan is an exciting, young rider who has already had significant success at a more junior level," said team principal Sir Dave Brailsford.

"His signing is a further commitment to our long-term future as Team Ineos.

"We now have a really exciting group of young riders who all have the chance to compete and train with more senior and experienced team-mates - and who can learn from them what it takes to win."