Tao Geoghegan Hart recalls 2023 Giro disaster: "The day I broke my leg, I was 100% sure I was going to fight for the GC"
Cycling
Lidl-Trek have announced Mads Pedersen's Giro-Vuelta goals for 2025 and simultaneously we learn that Jonathan Milan is a certainty for the Tour de France. The team's climbers are yet to reveal their plans, and Tao Geoghegan Hart prefers to stay away from that spotlight for the time being, focusing on getting back to his winning ways.
"I really want to take the focus, not necessarily race by race, but certainly focus on the first period. That's my big goal. This time of year there's a lot of headlines about people's targets and announcements but that's the reality for me," Hart said according to Cyclingnews. "I think it's a little bit nonsensical to look past that and to start looking at big goals.
"I really tried that last year after coming back. We were already talking about the Tour with the team before I'd even ridden the bike. It was super inspiring at the time but now it feels like a more logical approach to me is just to focus on getting back to my best and feeling really like the page has been turned from breaking my leg in 2023."
Hart will most likely focus on some smaller races this spring before deciding on which Grand Tour he will ride, it could depend on the results he shows and what his role will ultimately be in the American team. The 2020 Giro d'Italia winner had a few rough years but in 2023 he looked to return to his best level. However before he could put out another brilliant performance, he abandoned the race on stage 11 with a fractured pelvis that ended his season.
"The day I broke my leg, I was 100% sure I was going to fight for the GC in that Grand Tour and that's something that's super inspiring to me. That's the reason I started this sport. That's the aim, to come back there," he admits. "But first, there are steps before that, which is being competitive, even in smaller races. My aim is to be back competing and leading my team and leading my teammates, making a nice group around me to really try and win races in a nice way, or at least give it a good try."
Lidl-Trek signed him into 2024 despite the obvious risk after his serious injuries and many months off the bike, but he returned and showed good form in his first race back at the Volta ao Algarve, which gave good hopes. However the rest of the year did not go so well, having finished in the Top10 of the Tour de Romandie but not having any other meaningful result.
"When I was a much younger rider, one of the managers in my previous team said there are basically three types of riders: riders who win races, riders who are learning to win races and riders who help others win races. This is the period of my career where I really want to be a rider that makes results". At 29 years of age and with the climbing performances evolving each year that passes, there certainly is pressure on the shoulders of the Briton.
But he is prepared for that and knows what he wants. "It would be super nice to get some wins. It's easier said than done. I think it would also be super satisfying to be fighting for the GC, of the races, and more than anything, just feeling like things are clicking. I think that's the key thing. I'm hoping, with 12 months of training and racing in the legs, that that will kind of give me another layer to the performance".
"I would like to be here next year and see that the team recognizes me as someone who's contributing at races, leading the team, doing that off the bike as much as on it. That's important for me. It's about feeling like the purpose is being fulfilled. Personally it's that you feel that all the hard work that you put in and the shit that you put your family through and they have to watch these races, is worth it," he concluded.
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
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