Tao Geoghegan Hart questions behaviour of fellow pro cyclists: "Are riders afraid to express themselves, to be creative and to stand out?"
Cycling
Tao Geoghegan Hart resumed racing today at the Volta ao Algarve after several months away from competition. Having only been a spectator of the sport since May, the former Giro d'Italia winner has let out impactful words on how he feels there is a lack of personalities in the peloton.
"In the last months I read and listened countless times to talk of a new cycling, a different model, the changes we need to make. I love cycling and I love its history. And I’m so excited to be back racing this time tomorrow (this Wednesday, ed.)," Hart wrote in an Instagram post. "I have been an outsider the last eight months and one thing I have reflected upon, is how homogenous the sport is becoming at times."
"2024 supposedly sees us more connected than ever. And yet it feels as though cycling is becoming more bland. Are riders afraid to express themselves, to be creative and to stand out? Sometimes it just feels like endless identical Instagram photos. And that 'communication' is just a proxy for promotion."
Whilst the likes of Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel have become superstars, and figures which transcend the sport and are well known worldwide, it could be argued that it lacks figures such as Lance Armstrong and Peter Sagan who had even bigger fame in their prime. Hart believes that a lot of this comes down to riders keeping their images more clean, in benefit of themselves and the brands they represent.
"Maybe it’s the ever more brutal fight for employment in the peloton, probably it’s a microcosm for the world we live in, or perhaps it’s how we’re expected to conform as athletes, showing no chinks in our shiny armour. If I was a sponsor I’d want something different. Something more real," the Briton admits however. Leading Lidl-Trek this year, he hopes to perform at the Tour de France, and makes his debut for the American team this week in the Algarve. However on his mind is the bigger picture of the sport.
"We all need heroes in life. I certainly have more than a few. And yes we can idolize a performance. But to really support someone, we need to empathize a little with that human. To be truly inspired, we need to see a bit of ourselves in them and then something more, to ourselves aspire toward," he concludes. "If I could speak about the model of the sport, I’d want to build individual profiles and the narrative of the riders. Because their stories and connection to the fans is the sports real asset."
Read also
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- yeah, that’s a more fair assessment. “reaching mathieu’s level” doesn’t mean you’re planning to replicate his whole career. the former IS doable, potentially. it’s just the latter that likely is not.OCexile25-12-2024
- That’s not entirely true. Every person follows their own development path and peaks differently. Remco and Primoz had hardly started cycling before elite level. Jonas was pretty much under the radzr until he unexpectedly had to take over responsibility at JV. Some guys only get real good in their thirties others have peaked mid-twenties. You can’t tell in advance how and upto what level they will progress, obviously his career might not have MVDPs length but nothing says he could not end up doing a few seasons at his level.Mistermaumau25-12-2024
- well, del grosso is 21 right now. when mathieu was a year younger than that, he was already winning elite level world championships, not U23. i think del grosso will be a very good pro for years, but if he was really going to be the next van der poel someday, he’d already have to be at that level right NOW. van der poel was showing signs of true greatness when he was 15-16. THAT’S what generational talent looks like.OCexile25-12-2024
- Yeah.... gear 😅.mikolajjj24-12-2024
- It shouldn’t be about expectations in the first place should it? Besides, if you look at everyone’s calculations as a whole they don’t add up in the first place. There’ll be 2-3 riders with a 50% chance, a dozen with 10 or 20% and dozens more with a 5% so we’re expecting at least 2 if not 3 winners. Remind me again who won before her? Says it all about using data to decide on participation.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- Ok, happy I’m not too interested in this team coz’ the account of what happened is really hard to follow.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- The UCI is worse than USA CyclingVeganpotter24-12-2024
- It's not like they wanted her to not win😅 She had an outstanding Olympics. But there's a reason why she wasn't expected to win the road race and that's ok. Things like this happen and it's great...better than seeing expected winners win.Veganpotter24-12-2024
- Bruyneel ? The man with a lifetime ban from cycling...why do you keep giving him and his doper mate, Armstrong, a platform?DJ24-12-2024
- yeah, agree. on the subject of being a “complete rider,” i do think that’s getting more interesting. mathieu seems to have decided he wants to get much better at climbing the the high mountain passes. he appears to be looking for new challenges, which should be interesting to watch. in most cases you’d dismiss a goal like that at age 30, but it’s mvdp. he’s never going to climb with the real climbers, but if he can improve enough it could open up stage wins when the parcours isnt just purely toothy and punchy.OCexile24-12-2024