'The plan is to fight for Grand Tours every year': Tao Geoghegan Hart targets Ineos leadership role
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Updated 27/11/2020 at 09:47 GMT
Tao Geoghegan Hart hopes to compete for a Grand Tour in every remaining year of his career after winning the Giro in October, but admits that he doesn't yet know what his target will be for 2021. Tao is one of a number of potential leaders in a star-studded Ineos Grenadiers squad, and the Londoner spoke to Gazzetta dello Sport about how he fits into the team's future plans.
Tao Geoghegan Hart of The United Kingdom and Team INEOS Grenadiers
Image credit: Getty Images
Tao Geoghegan Hart says he hopes to defend his Giro d’Italia title in 2021 and intends to race for Grand Tour honours every year in the remainder of his career.
The 25-year-old produced one of the performances of the season to win the Giro last month and become Britain’s fifth Grand Tour winner in history. But the strength of the squad at Ineos means it is not a given that Geoghegan Hart will be afforded a leadership role at future races.
Speaking in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Tao responded to a question about his intentions to race for the Tour de France and Vuelta titles by saying:
“Definitely – that's the objective. I hope I'm going to have another 10 years or more of my career, and the plan is to fight every year for those races. And also for the Giro, of course.
“I think to win the Giro as your first Grand Tour is amazing, really – especially this year, with everything that's happened and how difficult it's been for everyone.”
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Tao's fairytale: How Geoghegan Hart and Ineos won Giro
Ineos Grenadiers may have said goodbye to their seven-time Grand Tour winner Chris Froome this winter, but the team have an abundance of talent in their ranks going into the 2021 season.
Former Tour de France winners Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas remain, as does 2019 Giro champion Richard Carapaz, while Adam Yates has also joined from Mitchelton-Scott along with Richie Porte from Trek and Daniel Martinez from EF.
Tao is well aware that the team can only support a limited number of Grand Tour GC bids, but says there will be discussions during the off-season about how he fits into that structure and what his targets will be going forward.
I think it's a discussion we'll have to have within the team in the next month, or six or seven weeks, and then we'll see.
Whether that plan involves a Giro defence in 2021 remains to be seen, with Tao coy on his intentions to race the Italian Grand Tour again next year.
"There are so many races that I'm looking forward to, and so many beautiful races in cycling," he said. "I've always love racing in Italy, and so I'm sure I'll be racing a lot there next year."
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