News: Tao Geoghegan Hart Signs for Lidl-Trek

Currently on the road back from injury, Giro d’Italia winner Tao Geoghegan Hart 2020 will represent Lidl-Trek through 2026

News: Tao Geoghegan Hart Signs for Lidl-Trek

Currently on the road back from injury, Giro d’Italia winner Geoghegan Hart will represent Lidl-Trek through 2026

Lidl-Trek is proud to announce the signing of Giro d’Italia winner Tao Geoghegan Hart on a three-year contract. Tao’s remarkable journey, coupled with his unwavering determination, aligns perfectly with Lidl-Trek’s commitment to excellence, making this a perfect partnership for the Team’s future goals.

After crashing out on the way to a potential top result at the 2023 Giro d’Italia, Tao’s recent journey through rehabilitation has been nothing short of inspirational. Over the past six weeks, Tao has dedicated himself to intensive rehabilitation in Amsterdam, working diligently at a local clinic to regain his strength and mobility day by day. Despite the challenges, his resolve remains unwavering, and he eagerly awaits the future.

Speaking on this new chapter, Tao Geoghegan Hart shared his excitement: “After seven years within the same organisation there are many different emotions to approaching a new challenge in 2024. However, knowing plenty of faces within the Lidl-Trek organisation already, and having had conversations with Luca [Guercilena], Josu [Larrazabal] and Elke [Weylandt] in the past weeks, I am really looking forward to this new chapter in my career come 2024.

A new challenge is definitely exciting, to encounter different perspectives, athletes and cultures. That is one of my favourite things about cycling; the exploring and learning that we constantly encounter as athletes. With Lidl coming onboard as a new partner of the team, alongside Trek, who have owned the team for a long time now, it felt like a project I really wanted to be a part of at this moment in my career.

The Team has big goals and partners who are willing and able to support those ambitions. I believe I still have plenty of growth as an athlete and showed in 2023, up until the injury, what I can do as a leader. I’m incredibly motivated to get back to that feeling and place, and I believe that Lidl-Trek will be a brilliant place for me to do so. I have great memories of working with Trek and SRAM in 2014, including developing the first ever SRAM eTap group set, and I’m excited to see what further history we can write together.”

Speaking about his sporting ambitions with Lidl-Trek, Tao said: “First and foremost it would be amiss not to simply aim to be back to my best physically, in terms of the numbers and level I know I can attain. From there, I am really looking forward to bonding with faces both new and old within the organisation. I am really looking forward to see what we can achieve at races together. Personally, I see myself as a Grand Tour rider, but I am really hungry to try to take wins in any race that I line up at throughout the season.

I have raced for many years with Mads [Pedersen]. We stood on the podium of Junior Paris Roubaix together some moons ago, and it’s been a pleasure to see his career flourish as it has. I’ve also spent a lot of time training with Toms [Skujiņš] over the years, both in the states and Europe, so it will be fun to be teammates as well as training partners. Finally, I’m really looking forward to supporting the Lidl-Trek Women’s team. They have had great success in the last years and I’ve long been a fan of them, so it will be great to race in the same jersey as them and call them teammates.”

Luca Guercilena, General Manager at Lidl-Trek, expressed his enthusiasm for Tao’s arrival: “Tao Geoghegan Hart’s dedication and resilience epitomize the spirit of Lidl-Trek. His journey serves as a testament to the power of determination, and we are excited to welcome him to our team. As Tao embarks on this new adventure, we stand united in our commitment to pushing boundaries, achieving greatness, and creating a legacy of excellence.”

SOURCE: PRESS RELEASE HERE