Tao Geoghegan Hart ruled out of Tour de France after streak of illness and injuries

Tao Geoghegan Hart will not be at the start of the Tour de France. The leader of Lidl-Trek is still suffering too much from the consequences of his crash in the Critérium du Dauphiné mixed with a persistent illness.

The British climber was unable to start due to the crash in the fifth stage. He suffered an injury to his ribs, his back and the side of his body. The heavy blow three weeks before the start of the Tour was enough to prevent the 29-year-old from making it to the start of Grande Boucle.

"I spent zero hours on the bike this week and was Covid-positive for five days," the former Giro d'Italia winner later wrote on his Instagram profile. "I thought that period was long behind us, but unfortunately I became very ill."

That period of illness lasted longer than expected, his Lidl-Trek team said in a press release. The combination of injuries and illness means that he cannot get to the start of the Tour, where he was due to carry the American team's GC ambitions along with Giulio Ciccone.