TAO Geoghegan Hart
Biss ell development team
The last five days I’ve been in the UK, running errands in London, seeing the friends who aren’t off at university and, of course, reacquainting myself with my old training roads of Essex. It is pretty special to think that in just a matter of months, the Tour De France will be coming down Lea Bridge Road, the route I have taken out of London my entire cycling life.
It’s not the only big race coming up. First up, although not for me, is the inaugural Women’s Tour, taking in the roads of south- east England. I am a strong believer in the need to build women’s racing, so I will be following the race closely, despite being on the other side of the Atlantic. My girlfriend, Hannah Barnes, will be racing there with her American trade team, alongside my fellow diarist Tiffany, so I will be supporting them both through the medium of my laptop screen.
I’m writing this in Heathrow Airport, waiting to board my flight to San Francisco. I’ll be riding the Tour of California at the end of this week, a daunting but exciting prospect. Yesterday, I was informed on Twitter I will be the youngest rider in the race, not something I feel is of that great a significance but it's still pretty cool to know.
So far my season has gone pretty well. I think the U23 and senior races actually suit me better than the junior ones I competed in last year and I trained for the distance over the winter. I am sure the ToC will be a different matter but I will relish the opportunity to jump in at the deep end and try to learn as much as I can.
I had the great honour to ride the U23 Nations Cups with the Great Britain national team this spring. The highlight was leading out Owain Doull for a very close to the podium fourth place, while rolling over the line 15th myself. I was really happy to do a good team job for Owain and hopefully the experience and riding will pay off in the future. I loved riding all the cobbled bergs and being back on the tight and twisty lanes of Europe. I have been racing in Belgium since the very start of my career, as I've mentioned previously, so it really does feel like home. It certainly paid off in the short term as I came third in Liège-Bastogne-Liège U23 a week after the Ronde van Vlaanderen, riding with my Bissell team-mates. I hope further down the line I will be able to show those higher up what I am taking from all these races.
Ultimately, I am hoping to learn as much as I can in the next few weeks and keep getting stronger and wiser. Past that, I’ll have to see what the road holds for me. I am sure it is going to get pretty damn grippy at times! But no matter what you can be sure I will do my very best.
W