“The winner of the Giro will be in top form in that final week" Tao Geoghegan Hart previews

A former Giro d'Italia winner, Tao Geoghegan Hart will return to Italy in May full of confidence and in top form after taking a dominant victory at the Tour of the Alps. In the Brit's opinion, the third week of the Giro will be key.

“The Giro d'Italia is really very different from this race," Geoghegan Hart previews in conversation with Wielerflits following the Tour of the Alps. “The first nine days will be difficult and then a great final week will follow. I think there are three stages with more than 5,000 altimeters. It is important to start the Giro fresh and then see how it goes every day. We have shown that we have a very strong team, and then one or two more riders will join us.”

Whilst the INEOS Grenadiers have not yet officially announced their lineup for the race, the likes of Thymen Arensman, Pavel Sivakov and former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas are all expected to be heavily involved. "INEOS Grenadiers go into every game to win. You expect that from any great team. There are not only two teams that go for that,” he says referring to pre-race favourites Primoz Roglic's Jumbo-Visma and Remco Evenepoel's Soudal - Quick-Step.

“The winner of the Giro will be in top form in that final week,” he predicts. “It's impossible to win if you're not, especially considering how many tough stages we're getting there. But that's still a long way off. It is up to me to focus on what you are doing yourself, in the here and now. The Giro is a completely different goal. We have to stay close as a team, then I look forward to what is to come.”