"I'm completely back to 100 percent" - Tao Geoghegan Hart ready to return to winning ways

Tao Geoghegan Hart's career was altered by a crash at the fateful 2023 Giro d'Italia, three years after his greatest overall victory at the Corsa Rosa. Recent months have been a rollercoaster - once it seemed like the 30-year-old is on the way back, and the next moment he was kicked down by an illness or another obstacle arised. But now nearly two years later, he declares to be back to his best self.

"I'm completely back to 100 percent, yes. I have no lingering issues from my Giro crash," the British rider told IDLProCycling.com during Tour of the Alps. "I'm here to get back into race rhythm because I haven't raced for weeks. It was unfortunate that I got sick just before Catalunya - although I did try, it wasn’t possible to continue."  

"I still wanted to start because I hadn’t raced in three weeks, and the winter and spring had gone really well. But on the first day, I couldn't even keep food down, and if you start one of the hardest week-long stage races at 80 percent, it only goes downhill from there. So that was very unfortunate."

Still, that setback hasn’t dented Geoghegan Hart’s morale. Now that he’s truly back to 100 percent, nearly two years after his Giro crash, he wants to jump aboard the express train that is Lidl-Trek. "The team is riding super strongly, with a focus on multiple goals. We’re going to the Giro with an incredibly strong team, and that’s exactly what we want as a squad. Step by step, we’re making progress, and that's positive. I really want to be part of that success."

But unlike in the past, he was at Tour of the Alps to support teammate Giulio Ciccone who'll be Lidl-Trek's GC card at the upcoming Giro. "I can also enjoy Cicco’s success. He won for the first time in a long while, and I hope to win one for myself again in the rest of this season."

He'll have that opportunity next week at Tour of Romandie. Later he'll also line up to the Critérium du Dauphiné and finally the Tour de France where he should get a rather free role. "We have a lot of options within the team, with a long Tour shortlist and a big focus on the sprint. A large part of the Tour squad will be built around the sprints, so it’ll be a matter of finding the right balance."