Tao Geoghegan Hart, in search of the pink glow once again

The Giro d’Italia gave him everything and the Giro d’Italia also took part of it away again. Londoner Tao Geoghegan Hart stunned the cycling world in 2020, the year when the Corsa Rosa had to be held in October due to the pandemic, by lifting the Trofeo Senza Fine.

Three seasons later, a crash in Stage 11 of the 2023 edition, on the way to Tortona, left him with a serious hip fracture from which he only recovered the following year. To make matters worse, in June 2024 he broke his ribs and back again in another incident at the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Finding the “magic legs” again

Tao changed everything in that couple of years: from INEOS Grenadiers, he moved to Lidl-Trek; from a brilliant career, he had to live with the burden of doubt. But little by little, the Englishman seems to be recovering.

“This was the first winter I went through without having to deal with surgery or rehab,” Tao explained earlier this year in the British press. “I got sick again a couple of times at the start of the year, but I’ve had a base, and everything has been easier without those small setbacks.”

“In reality, I haven’t had problems for a while, but transferring those good feelings into racing is something different. I still haven’t had that day on the bike where I could feel those ‘magic legs’, but that’s what we’re working for.”

Memories of a wonderful milestone

Geoghegan Hart, who turns 31 this Monday, knows that despite having reached the glory of the Giro d’Italia, he still has to earn his place for Bulgaria. If he does, he believes he can make the most of it. “Where I perform best is in the last 7–10 days of a Grand Tour, without a doubt. But to get there, I need to be at 100%.”

“I wasn’t thinking about the general classification in that Giro I won,” he recalled a few years ago. “It would have been absurd for someone who only had two professional victories. I never thought about the Maglia Rosa until I had to put it on myself on the podium. At that moment, of course, the world around you changes, but I didn’t. I simply always loved riding my bike.”

“I’ve been part of many beautiful victories,” he reflected recently, “but also of great teams, and I’ve built more than what the numbers say. That’s what I value in cycling.” A year, and a month of May, that are very important to see the old Tao again. Happy birthday, champ!