'I’m just bloody happy to win': Tao Geoghegan Hart delighted at ending long wait without a win
Ineos Grenadiers rider celebrates his first victory since the 2020 Giro d'Italia
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Immediately after crossing the line first on stage four of the Volta a Valenciana to win his first bike race in more than two years, Tao Geoghegan Hart pressed his radio and began a long, deafening and impassioned victory scream that lasted the best part of five seconds.
The reaction said everything about the significance of the victory for the Londoner, the Ineos Grenadiers rider’s last visit to the top step of a podium being all the way back in October 2020 when he won the Giro d’Italia.
In between has been two barren years, 28 months of frustrations, numerous setbacks, illnesses, injuries, and a dearth of consistency. It was little wonder he was so overjoyed at winning atop Alto de la Cueva Santa.
“This is a really tricky sport,” he told the press afterwards. “I’m just bloody happy to win. I am super happy with that.”
Although the 27-year-old didn’t want to define his triumph as a relief, he was keen to reflect on the previous two seasons to compare his emotions. “It’s an honour and a pleasure to win,” he continued.
“It’s a really hard sport to do well in, to have success in, so I am just really happy to have paid off my teammates. They did an amazing job on the second stage [when Geoghegan Hart finished ninth] and it was one of those days where I didn’t get it right - I could have had more confidence in some respects.
“But Rome wasn’t built in a day and after the last few years it’s all about taking momentum, taking it day by day, and all those other boring cliches.”
He went on: “I’m just happy and grateful that I have had an uninterrupted winter without any problems and consistent training.
“I know that when I have a good block the condition comes, that’s never been an issue. The last couple of years it was just a case of a lot of setbacks whenever I felt like I was getting to the place I wanted to be.”
The victory, his first outside of Italy, is well-timed, for 2023 also acts as a contract year for Geoghegan Hart. Not that he is buying into the narrative of it being more important than other seasons though.
>>> Ineos Grenadiers bet on three leaders at the 2023 Tour de France
“It’s always a big season in cycling,” he deadpanned. “Every season I’ve had in my entire career has been a big season.
“I love this sport and it doesn’t make any difference if it’s a contract year or not. [Regardless] if you’re training harder, [doing] more hours, or [doing] more everything in the last two winters than this winter, it’s not [been] something different [to return to form], it’s just the big things of staying healthy and staying upright. But it's easier said than done.”
Geoghegan Hart sits just four seconds off the race leader Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) going into the fifth and final stage, but a flat final 30km means that it’s unlikely the Italian will be disposed of his leader’s jersey. “I’m just happy to have won today - I don’t need to think about that right now,” Geoghegan Hart said.
Thank you for reading 10 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Chris first started writing for Cycling Weekly in 2013 on work experience and has since become a regular name in the magazine and on the website. Reporting from races, long interviews with riders from the peloton and riding features drive his love of writing about all things two wheels.
Probably a bit too obsessed with mountains, he was previously found playing and guiding in the Canadian Rockies, and now mostly lives in the Val d’Aran in the Spanish Pyrenees where he’s a ski instructor in the winter and cycling guide in the summer. He almost certainly holds the record for the most number of interviews conducted from snowy mountains.
-
-
Analysis: How Mathieu van der Poel won Milan-San Remo
After another exhilarating finish to Milan-San Remo, it’s time to look back at the day and the key tactical moments that defined it
By CyclingMole aka David Hunter • Published
-
Saved by a doping test: The pro rider treated for cancer after abnormal blood result
When his team doctor called about an abnormal test result, Torstein Træen could not believe what was happening – but it would turn out to be a potentially life-saving red flag
By Chris Marshall-Bell • Published