Mate initially needs ten cycles as competitor (8)
I believe the answer is:
opponent
'competitor' is the definition.
(opponent is a kind of competitor)
'mate initially needs ten cycles' is the wordplay.
'mate' becomes 'oppo' (I've seen this before**).
'initially' indicates taking the first letters.
'cycles' is an anagram indicator.
The first letter of 'needs' is 'n'.
'ten' is an anagram of 'ent'.
'oppo'+'n'+'ent'='OPPONENT'
'as' is the link.
(Other definitions for opponent that I've seen before include "Foe or competitor" , "Challenger" , "Adversary, competitor" , "The one you're up against" , "Contestant you're matched against" .)