CyclistIm really looking forward to this next chapter: Tao Geoghegan Hart Q&AWhat do you remember from your race-ending crash in the Giro dItalia last year?Directly from the moment that Giro crash happened, I understood everything. There were five seconds of ambiguity where I had hope and thought, You need to jump up and go, this is the Giro, youre flying. And then I remembered what I felt when I touched the ground. It was a situation I never imagined Id be in. I had always walked away from some decent hits.Of course, it was horrible to be stuck in hospital for two weeks. And its really hard to be in a wheelchair, not able to walk. But I always had short-term goals I could chip away at. The rehab, the surgery, everything went smoothly.After suffering a complex femur fracture, you didnt race for the rest of 2023 and focussed on recovery. How has this experience changed you?Its a new chapter of my career for many reasons. The crash is, of course, one thing, but Ive also changed teams [from Ineos Grenadiers] after seven years. Lidl-Trek is only the second WorldTour team of my career. There are new adventures and experiences going on. Related Posts Sitting pretty in pink: How Tao Geoghegan Hart climbed to the top This Giro dItalia showed us a new fun and exciting side to Ineos Grenadiers, fingers crossed its here to stay Next Big Thing: Tao Geoghegan Hart profile (2013) It was interesting to be quite outside of cycling for half a year. For a long time I didnt see anyone to do with the sport. Well, I saw Dylan [van Baarle] while I was recovering in Amsterdam; we had a coffee one afternoon. I was working with people that didnt follow the Tour de France. I was really outside of cycling and that was just a good period for me not that I needed it or searched for it, but I made the most of it. Doing that was the best way to come back really fresh now. Im looking forward to this next chapter.What are your hopes and expectations for 2024?Its quite a clean slate. Similar to any time of my career, its about being the best I can be. In the Giro I was so happy because I felt I hadnt really started the race yet and we were halfway through. I was just waiting to show what I wanted to show. It was all trending in the right direction, and thats the best feeling in the world when youve worked five months with a nice group of guys around you, spending four weeks at a time together at altitude, sacrificing things, putting the hours in.With this team, there are big changes. Lidl is a huge and really ambitious company. Theres a lot of amazing history, a lot of people have been together here a long time. Ive been racing with Mads Pedersen since we were under-16s. I think he gets a lot of credit, but he should actually get more.Tao Gheoghegan Hart celebrates with his Ineos Grenadiers teammates after his victory at the 2020 Giro dItalia. Photo: Chris AuldFor what he does?The way he won the Bemer Cyclassics in Germany, you dont see that in cycling anymore. It was like Cancellara in Milan-San Remo of yesteryear. Hes 28 and hes won in every Grand Tour and is doing the Classics. Its really underestimated how hard that is.When you turned pro with Team Sky, it was an established squad that had won multiple Tours de France. Lidl-Trek also wants to become a superteam. How do you see yourself as an asset?Honestly, I think thats a little bit contentious because everyone starts from zero every winter. Fortunes change fast. On the top of that climb before I crashed, I felt so good and fresh. In one second [clicks his fingers], its another story. Its like that; teams and sponsors come and go really fast. Every WorldTour team is only as good as the riders its bringing in, the future its creating and the contracts its signing. So in that respect I want to bring my personality, my experience and my outlook for life.You took a few months out. Did the fact you knew you were switching teams give some time to adjust a bit?No, it was strange because I felt really away from cycling. I didnt feel like I was changing, to be honest. And it was also sad because I didnt have a chance to say goodbye and thank you to a lot of people [at Ineos]. 2014 was the first time I did a training camp with a lot of those riders and staff. Thats a decade; my whole adult life.For a long time last year I didnt feel emotionally involved with anything in cycling. I was really focussed on crazy, tiny things you cant imagine.I couldnt bend my knee very far for months. I was living day to day by measuring how many degrees I could bend it. It would improve by two or three degrees after a two-hour painful treatment and lose a degree in the night. So if you cant walk, its impossible to imagine jumping on the bike to do four hours easy, riding 250 watts. I couldnt even pedal.Whats it like returning to the normal goal of being a professional cyclist after spending so many months focussing on one thing?The training is second nature for me. I love being on my bike. Its more the other stuff. I need to get the mindset back a bit more into nutrition. But Im not too far from where I was this time last year. I really expected some big setback or flare-up and Ive had nothing. That speaks a lot for the work I did in Amsterdam to be ready. Career highlightsAge 29Team Lidl-TrekNotable results20231st, Tour of the Alps, two stage wins20201st, Giro dItalia, two stage wins20192nd, Tour of the Alps, two stage wins20181st, Stage 3 (TTT), Critrium du Dauphin20161st, Road Race, National Under-23 Road Championships2nd, Time-Trial, National Under-23 Road Championships This article originally appeared in issue 151 of Cyclist magazine. Click here to subscribe Related Posts Sitting pretty in pink: How Tao Geoghegan Hart climbed to the top This Giro dItalia showed us a new fun and exciting side to Ineos Grenadiers, fingers crossed its here to stay Next Big Thing: Tao Geoghegan Hart profile (2013) The post Im really looking forward to this next chapter: Tao Geoghegan Hart Q&A appeared first on Cyclist.