The Rise Of Tao Geoghegan Hart

British prodigy’s long road to Team Sky shows wisdom beyond his years.

- Sophie Hurcom

Few young British riders would have the courage to turn down Team Sky when they expressed an interest in signing them, and ask if they’d come back in a year instead.

But that’s exactly what now 21-year old Londoner Tao Geoghegan Hart did in 2015 after riding as a stagiaire with the WorldTour outfit.

For someone who has ambitions of racing Grand Tours, Sky’s offer was the dream ticket. Geoghegan Hart even recalls standing on the Mall in London in 2010 when Sky officially launched and being inspired by the sight of the new British team.

Yet rather than put pen to paper, he chose to stay with the American Continental team Axeon-Hagens Berman, believing it best to continue his development on the U23 scene for another 12 months.

“It’s really hard when you have the opportunity that is your dream, and you don’t know if it’ll come again, to say that you’d like to wait a year please,” Geoghegan Hart tells Cycling Weekly, now sat wearing Sky team kit having joined the squad as a neo-pro for the start of 2017.

“It was really incredibly hard, especially because no one can really give you advice on that — it has to be your decision.”