"We've got a really good balance" - Lidl-Trek on the cusp of something special this year believes Tao Geoghegan Hart

Tao Geoghegan Hart begins a new adventure in 2024, as he embarks on the next chapter in his career with Lidl-Trek after eight years with Team Sky/INEOS Grenadiers.

"I think the Team feels really well-balanced for 2024 with a nice mix of riders who have a wealth of experience ready to share with those other riders who are still finding out their capabilities in the sport," says an excited Geoghegan Hart in conversation with Lidl-Trek's official website. "We've got a really good balance between the sprint group, the guys going for the Classics and also the climbers and GC riders with some amazing support sprinkled on top of that. I think that's a really good balance to be approaching the big goals and ambitions of the Team moving forward."

Despite a bright start, Geoghegan Hart's final year at the INEOS Grenadiers was ultimately a disappointment as a crash at the Giro d'Italia ended his season very prematurely. "It’s been super exciting for me to be back in the environment of a team full stop having been half a year away from cycling, a life I’ve been so accustomed to in the last 15 years. I missed that dynamic of being in the group and with your teammates," he explains. "For me, it is like really a sense of excitement after that period of dreaming to be back in this scenario, to now be here and appreciate that."

Looking towards this new start, what would the former Giro d'Italia winner consider a successful year? "I think having the ability at the end of the season to look back and be really proud of the adventure of coming into a new team and a new environment. Having some performances where I can say that everything really clicked that day and all the work I did, whether that be through the rehab or through the winter on the bike, all came together and was shown in that moment," he assesses. "Being able to look back and really feel proud that that whole journey culminated in those performances is key. It’s going to take a lot of hard work still and that's, you know, something that it is always an unknown but I'm excited for that."

Geoghegan Hart makes his Lidl-Trek bow this Wednesday at the Volta ao Algarve. "You start again from zero. You pin the number on the back of your jersey, and you don't know what that season's going to hold," the 28-year-old concludes.

"You know in cycling we go from one place to the next, one race to the next but it's just about feeling the momentum and the progress and absorbing the ups and downs along the way."