The British cyclist revealed that the team change occurred amid the challenging recovery from hip injuries sustained during the 2023 Giro d’Italia.
Since that fateful day on May 17, when Geoghegan Hart was carefully taken off the track and transported to Genoa in an ambulance, the 28-year-old athlete has been battling to recover from complete immobility.
During this challenging period, he gained a new perspective on what it means to be an elite athlete. After switching from INEOS Grenadiers to Lidl-Trek, Geoghegan Hart began a new chapter in his career.
In a conversation with the British website GCN, he shared about his experience outside the cycling bubble, describing it as “another life.”
“For you, it’s normal, but for me to have a schedule every day, to be someone at nine, then do this at ten and that at eleven, it was a very different lifestyle. I don’t know how people do it.”
Recovery in the Netherlands lasted for months.
Recovering from such a severe injury required several months, with daily physiotherapy sessions conducted under strict supervision in the Netherlands. Even after the initial return, considerable doubts persisted. It was only at the end of September that both the cyclist and his medical team could confidently state that he would be fit to participate in the Lidl-Trek Training Camp in December.
“No one can predict this. Especially when they know the reality. But I have nothing now, no flexibility restriction, no more strength difference, and all the tests I’ve done seem very good.”
Team transfer amid the injury.
“I had no anxiety, and on the other hand, no enthusiasm,” he says when asked if the team change during the injury increased his concerns about the future.
“It was very strange to sign a contract at that time and think about being a professional cyclist in any team while being so far away. I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t bend my leg. I couldn’t do anything. I don’t know if that’s a pity because if I think about it now, maybe there should have been enthusiasm in joining a new team. After all, this is the first time I’ve changed teams, and all of this is a new experience for me.”
“If I didn’t try something now, I probably would have done it differently. I have so many friends at INEOS Grenadiers, and I will miss everyone there. There was a great team and cyclists in that team.”