"We are convinced that he can win another Grand Tour" - Koen de Kort on Lidl-Trek's belief in Tao Geoghegan Hart

Among Lidl-Trek's many transfers in this busy window, the arrival of former Giro d'Italia winner Tao Geoghegan Hart from the INEOS Grenadiers stands out as a statement signing.

After triumphing in Italy back in 2020, the 28-year-old Brit had looked set to challenge once again for the Maglia Rose this year before an untimely crash sadly ruled him out of contention and ended his season prematurely. In his recovery, Geoghegan Hart has notably taken his time to fully recuperate, according to Koen de Kort, ex-pro and current Team Support Manager at Lidl-Trek, this was all part of the riders long term plan.

“He thought that riders came back from injury too quickly. These riders then use one leg more than the other. That can bother you for the rest of your career, so he wanted to prevent that,” de Kort reveals on Eurosport's Kop over Kop podcast.

As mentioned, the arrival of Geoghegan Hart to Lidl-Trek adds proven Grand Tour-winning capabilities to the team ahead of next year. Whilst it may take time, de Kort and the team fully believe in their new acquisition's capabilities of adding more Grand Tour success to his palmares.

“Next year is still too early," de Kort confesses. "But we are convinced that he can win another Grand Tour one day. It then seems to be the Giro or the Vuelta. But he will also be important to us with his experience for Skjelmose, for example. But he can certainly win again himself.”