Tao Geoghegan Hart ( ; born 30 March 1995) is a British cyclist who currently rides for

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road cycling, the UCI World Tour or UCI ProTour ...

. He rode for as a

stagiaire Stagiaire may refer to: * Stage (cooking) or stagiaire, a cook who works briefly, for free, in another chef's kitchen * Stagiaire (cycling), an amateur cyclist temporarily riding for a professional team * A particular type of trainee, see Europea ...

in late 2015, and joined the team permanently for the 2017 season. He won the 2020 Giro d'Italia, taking the jersey following the final day time-trial.

Early and personal life

Geoghegan Hart was born in

Holloway, London Holloway is an inner-city district of the London Borough of Islington, north of Charing Cross, which follows the line of the Holloway Road ( A1). At the centre of Holloway is the Nag's Head commercial area which sits between the more residentia ...

. The eldest of 4 siblings, he grew up in the

London Fields London Fields is a park in Hackney, London, although the name also refers to the immediate area in Hackney surrounding it and London Fields station. It is common land adjoining the Hackney Central area of the London Borough of Hackney. The p ...

neighbourhood of Hackney, attending Gayhurst primary school. His family is of Scottish and Irish ancestry. The name Tao is the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

version of his father's forename Tom. He played football until he was 12 and was a goalkeeper. He was brought up as a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

. He also became a keen swimmer after starting secondary school at

Stoke Newington School Stoke Newington School (SNS) is a secondary school situated in Stoke Newington, in the London Borough of Hackney. History The school is an amalgamation of Clissold School and Woodberry Down School, with the new school founded in 1982 in the ...

; on 28 July 2008, when he was 13, he was part of a cross-

Channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

swimming relay with Clissold Swimming Club. The team of six completed the crossing in 11 hours 34 minutes. Geoghegan Hart learnt to ride a bike when he was five, and first had a BMX cycle as a young boy. He has said he recalls being impressed when attending the

2007 Tour de France The 2007 Tour de France the 94th running of the race, took place from 7 to 29 July. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and Spain. It was ...

prologue in London as a spectator. He gained a serious interest in cycling after his father bought him a second-hand women's Specialized Dolce when he was 13. He took part in the

Dunwich Dynamo The Dunwich Dynamo (sometimes abbreviated to "Dun Run" or "DD") is an annual semi-organised, through-the-night bicycle ride from London Fields park in Hackney, London, England to Dunwich on the Suffolk coast. The distance is approximately . ...

cycle ride in the summer of 2008. In 2009, Tao attended the launch of

Team Sky Ineos Grenadiers () (stylised as INEOS Grenadiers) (formerly Team Sky from 2010 to 2019, and Team Ineos from 2019 to 2020) is a British professional cycling team that competes at the UCI WorldTeam level. The team is based at the National Cycl ...

, joining an amateur peloton riding behind

Bradley Wiggins Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but later made the transition to r ...

and

Chris Froome Christopher Clive Froome ɹɪs fɹuːm (born 20 May 1985) is a Kenyan/British Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He has won seven Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de ...

. He also took a Saturday job at Condor Cycles that year, and was supported with bicycles, wheels, and kit by the London bicycle manufacturer. He was also sponsored by London company Rapha as a young rider. Geoghegan Hart is a life-long fan of the

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

football club.

Career

ToB 2014 stage 8a - Tao Geoghegan Hart 02 (cropped)

Geoghegan Hart started competitive racing at the national level in 2010 with the East London-based club Cycling Club Hackney. He joined the British Cycling under-16 development programme in 2011, followed by the Olympic Development Programme for under-18s. He also competed internationally, and attracted attention for victories abroad and podium places at races including 3rd place at the 2013

Paris–Roubaix Juniors Paris–Roubaix Juniors (or Le Pavé de Roubaix) is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in April in northern France for junior cyclists (aged 17 and 18) ahead of the senior Paris–Roubaix classic race. It is organised by the Vélo-Club d ...

. He also took a clean sweep of mountains, points and general classification jerseys at the Giro Internazionale della Lunigiana in 2013. In 2014, Geoghegan Hart rode for

Axel Merckx Axel Eddy Lucien Jonkheer Merckx (born 8 August 1972) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer and the son of five-time Tour de France champion Eddy Merckx. He is team director of UCI Continental team . In his professional career (1 ...

's . He finished third in

Liège–Bastogne–Liège U23 The U23 Liège–Bastogne–Liège or Liège–Bastogne–Liège Espoirs is a cycling race in Belgium, held eight days before the cycling classic, the Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège, also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Ol ...

and rode his first UCI 2. HC ranked race at the

Tour of California The Tour of California (officially sponsored as the Amgen Tour of California) was an annual professional road bicycle racing, road cycling stage race on the UCI World Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour that ran from 2006 to 2019. It was the ...

in May 2014 before completing a second at the

Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the S ...

in September when, riding for the Great Britain national team, he finished 15th overall. In 2015, he again finished third in

, eighth overall in the

Tour of the Gila The Tour of the Gila is a cycling stage race for both men and women located in New Mexico, United States. It is sponsored by the component maker SRAM. The "Gila" began in 1987. Beginning in 2012, the men's Gila has been added to the UCI America ...

, 13th overall in the

and seventh overall in the

USA Pro Cycling Challenge The USA Pro Cycling Challenge, also known as USA Pro Challenge, was an annual multi-day professional road bicycle racing stage race that first took place in Colorado in 2011. Originally announced on August 4, 2010 by Colorado Governor Bill Ritt ...

, winning the best young rider classification. He also rode as a

Stagiaire Stagiaire may refer to: * Stage (cooking) or stagiaire, a cook who works briefly, for free, in another chef's kitchen * Stagiaire (cycling), an amateur cyclist temporarily riding for a professional team * A particular type of trainee, see Europea ...

for in 2015, but opted to stay at Under-23 level for the 2016 season. In August 2016, Geoghegan Hart was confirmed as having signed for for the 2017 season. In August 2018, he was named in the startlist for the 2018 Vuelta a España. In May 2019, he was named in the startlist for the 2019 Giro d'Italia. On 18 October 2020, Geoghegan Hart won his first stage of a Grand Tour, taking stage 15 of the Giro d'Italia on the Alpine summit finish of the

Piancavallo Piancavallo is a ski resort in the Dolomites of northern Italy. It is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Aviano, in the province of Pordenone in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Piancavallo is situated at above sea level, at the foot of Monte Cavallo ...

. Following in the steps of previous winners

Marco Pantani Marco Pantani (; 13 January 1970 – 14 February 2004) was an Italian road racing cyclist, widely regarded as the greatest climbing specialist in the history of the sport by measures of his legacy, credits from other riders, and records. He rec ...

and

Mikel Landa Mikel Landa Meana (born 13 December 1989) is a Spanish professional road cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . His career breakthrough came at the 2015 Giro d'Italia where he won two stages and finished third overall. Career Early career Lan ...

, Geoghegan Hart rode away from the remaining peloton with the Sunweb duo of

Jai Hindley Jai Hindley (born 5 May 1996) is an Australian professional cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Career After joining the team for the 2018 season, Hindley made his debut for at the 2018 Volta ao Algarve. In August 2018, he was nam ...

and

Wilco Kelderman Wilco Kelderman (born 25 March 1991) is a Dutch professional road bicycle racer who rides for UCI WorldTeam . Professional career Born in Amersfoort, Kelderman finished in seventh position in the general classification of the 2014 Giro d'Italia ...

, out-sprinting Kelderman at the line to take the stage win. The result also took Geoghegan Hart up to 4th in the General Classification of the race ahead of the second rest day. On 24 October 2020, he won his

second stage A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of another stage; a ''parallel'' stage i ...

of the Giro d'Italia, taking 2nd overall on the same time as the leader, and on the final stage on the following day, he finished 13th in a time-trial in a time which won the Giro d'Italia. In taking the jersey following the final day time-trial, he became the first rider in Giro history to win the overall title having never carried the pink jersey during the race itself.

Major results

;2012 : 3rd Overall National Junior Road Series ;2013 : 1st Jersey green

Overall

Giro della Lunigiana Giro della Lunigiana is a four-day road bicycle race for junior men (age 17 and 18) in the historical territory Lunigiana (currently the provinces of La Spezia and Massa Carrara), Italy. The race, class 2.1 MJ on the UCI calendar, counts as a big ...

::1st

Points classification ::1st Jersey red

Mountains classification ::1st Stage 1 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour of Istria ::1st Stage 2 : 3rd

: 3rd Road race, National Junior Road Championships : 5th Overall Course de la Paix Juniors ;2014 : 3rd

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Espoirs Liège–Bastogne–Liège, also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Monuments'' of the European professional r ...

: 10th Overall

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir ( en, Tour of the Future) is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independents ...

;2015 : 3rd

Time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

, National Under-23 Road Championships : 3rd

: 6th

Trofeo PIVA The Trofeo Banca Popolare di Vicenza (also known as Trofeo PIVA) is a professional cycling race held annually in the Province of Vicenza, Italy. It has been part of the UCI Europe Tour since 2005 in category 1.2U, meaning it is reserved for U23 ri ...

: 7th Overall

::1st

Young rider classification : 8th Overall

: 9th

Beaumont Trophy The Beaumont Trophy is a cycle road race first run in 1952. The Trophy was presented to the Gosforth Road Club by Rex Beaumont who was a local cycle wholesaler on Tyneside. The Gosforth Road Club had been created in July 1951 as an offshoot of ...

;2016 : National Under-23 Road Championships ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Road race ::2nd

: 1st

: 2nd Overall

Tour de Savoie Mont-Blanc The Tour de Savoie Mont-Blanc was a multi-day cycling race held annually in the departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie in France between 1999 and 2021. It was held as part of the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road ...

::1st Stage 5 : 2nd Overall Course de la Paix Under-23 : 6th Overall

::1st

Young rider classification : 6th Overall

: 6th Overall

Volta ao Alentejo The Volta ao Alentejo (Portuguese; en, Tour of Alentejo) is a road bicycle racing stage race held annually in the Alentejo, Portugal. Since 2005, it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a seri ...

: 7th

Gran Premio Palio del Recioto The Gran Premio Palio del Recioto is a professional one day cycling race held annually in Italy. It is part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Unio ...

: 8th

Giro del Belvedere The Giro del Belvedere is a professional cycling race held annually in the Treviso province, Italy. It has been part of the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 20 ...

: 9th

, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships : 10th

Ruota d'Oro The Ruota d'Oro is a professional one day cycling race held annually in Italy. It is part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Interna ...

;2017 : 2nd Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships : 4th

, National Road Championships : 4th

Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca ( en, Tour of Majorca, ca, Challenge Volta Ciclista a Mallorca) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or earl ...

: 8th Overall

: 8th Overall Tour of Yorkshire ;2018 : 1st Stage 3 ( TTT)

Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycling road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during the first half of June. It is part ...

: 5th Overall

Vuelta a Burgos Vuelta Ciclista a Burgos is an elite professional road bicycle racing event held annually in the Burgos province of Spain. The men's Vuelta a Burgos has been a multi-day stage race as part of the UCI Europe Tour since 2005. In 2019, a multi-day wo ...

;2019 : 2nd Overall

Tour of the Alps The Tour of the Alps is an annual professional cycling stage race in Italy and Austria. First held in 1962, it was named Giro del Trentino ( en, Tour of Trentino) until 2016, and run over four stages in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region o ...

::1st Stages 1 & 4 : 5th Overall

Tour de Pologne The Tour de Pologne (Polish: ''Wyścig Dookoła Polski'', English: ''Tour of Poland'', official abbreviation TdP,) is an annual, professional men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in Poland. It consists of seven or eight stages ...

: 8th

Tre Valli Varesine The Tre Valli Varesine is a semi classic European bicycle race held in Varese, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is usually the first and most important race of Trittico Lombardo, which c ...

Combativity award Stage 20

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the r ...

;2020 : 1st Jersey pink

Overall Giro d'Italia ::1st Jersey white

Young rider classification Young rider classification (french: classement général des jeunes) is a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, which awards the current leader by overall time for rid ...

::1st Stages 15 & 20 : 3rd Overall

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (; en, Tour of the Valencian Community or Tour of Valencia) is a road cycling stage race held in the Valencian Community (''Comunitat Valenciana''), Spain. Its position in the cycling calendar means it is often ...

;2021 : 9th

Memorial Marco Pantani The Memorial Marco Pantani is a professional road bicycle race held annually in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. History The race has been organized since 2004 and serves as a memory of Marco Pantani. The race starts in Cesenatico, Pantani's hometown, and ...

: 10th Overall

: 10th Overall Tour des Alpes-Maritimes et du Var ;2022 : 5th Overall

Tour of Norway The Tour of Norway is a road bicycle race held annually in Norway. It is considered as a successor to the stage race Ringerike GP, which is now a one-day race. It was started in 2011 as a result of the heightened interest in cycling in Norway, m ...

: 8th Overall

General classification results timeline

References

External links

*
Tao Geoghegan Hart at Team Axeon Hagens Berman
* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Geoghegan Hart, Tao 1995 births Living people British male cyclists Giro d'Italia winners British Giro d'Italia stage winners Cyclists from Greater London English people of Irish descent English people of Scottish descent Olympic cyclists of Great Britain Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Olympics People from Hackney, London