Struggling former Giro winner Tao Geoghegan Hart finally finds a new WorldTour team

Because EF Education-EasyPost is taking a chance on Hart. The American team has offered him a one-year contract. “It started with a very interesting, personal conversation with Jonathan Vaughters, founder and CEO of EF Pro Cycling,” Hart says on his new team’s website.

“We spoke one-on-one about the difficulties I’ve faced since my injury three years ago, ideas about that, and opportunities for the future.”

It was precisely at the 2023 Giro d'Italia that things went wrong again. Riding for INEOS Grenadiers, he was in fourth place in the general classification after eleven days.

But a crash on the eleventh stage resulted in a broken thighbone, from which he struggled to recover. In 2024, he transferred to Lidl-Trek, where he never again reached the level he had hoped for.

Even though he felt 100 percent fit again this year, he fell ill several times and was essentially out of the picture for the entire year.

But at EF Education-EasyPost, he hopes to regain his former form. “For me personally, it’s about getting back to the form I had in my best years—the highest level I was able to reach, the journey toward it, and the final results.”

Geoghegan Hart no longer wants to dwell on his bad luck. “In a fraction of a second, so much can change in cycling. But in the end, nothing changes who you are.

You might have different goals for the six to twelve months following a crash like that, a different experience when you return, and different challenges, but ultimately, in my experience, it’s always the same mindset and approach.”

EF Education-EasyPost needs to turn things around. As far as motivation goes, at least, they’re in good shape.

“When I spoke with team manager Charly Wegelius a few weeks ago, I told him that there’s one thing I love so much about cycling: the feeling you get when you arrive at a race hotel full of energy—knowing that you’ve prepared fantastically over the preceding weeks or months, with your eyes set on the prize, whatever that prize may be. I’m looking forward to experiencing that feeling again.”

Vaughters believes Hart can truly return to his former level. “Tao is an incredibly talented rider with the perseverance and tenacity to bounce back after a terrible crash,” said the American. "Although the fruits of his hard work to recover aren’t visible yet, we’re willing to bet that 2027 will be the year this happens."