The unexpected success of Tao Geoghegan, the son of the bricklayer who rejected the Sky at the age of 20

• Champion Tao Geoghegan Hart conquers the Impossible Giro

Under the imposing presence of the Duomo of Milan,

(London, 1995) took off his time trial helmet, revealing his abundant red hair and fine freckled face, and kissed his girlfriend. He had not yet reached the line goal

, but he was already aware that the Giro was his, that without having to be a leader for a single day he was going to be able to inscribe his very complicated name - of Galeic origin, it is pronounced

- in the history of cycling.

His will forever be the Giro that managed to reach Milan despite all the difficulties, that of the

, the one that ran in October, that of the mutilated stages.

The Giro that he himself did not think was going to win, gregarious as it was from

, fallen in the third stage.

The 10-year-old boy won a tremendous upset because he forgot one of his goalkeeper gloves at a soccer match.

The teenager who at the age of 18 decided to move to Girona to advance his incipient career.

The young man who at 20 years old

because he felt that he was not ready yet and that he had a way to go in the sub'23 category.

son

, the Scottish and Irish-born bricklayer whose hard days of up to 16 hours of work inspired his tenacity on the bike.

The rider who gives meaning to the philosophy that inspired the creation of the Sky a decade ago, now Ineos, to build a forge that would endow British cycling with future champions.

Assumption of gallons

His quality on the bike and his determination made foresee a future success like the one he achieved this Sunday, but the difficulty of living in the same team with stars like

,

,

and

have delayed his assumption of gallons until this Giro.

With freedom, without shackles, Geoghegan has finally taken flight.

And although the emergence of the

,

and

may suggest otherwise, it makes him still young, barely 25 years old.

“I had always dreamed of doing a top10 or maybe a top5 on a big lap, but this is completely different.

It will take me a few days to assimilate ”, he explained, beaming on the podium in Milan after beating Jai Hindley by 39 seconds in a time trial - won, again, by

- to which both arrived with the same time in the general ranking.

The Axel Merckx team

Geoghegan simmered his progression, opting at the U23s to race in

American Axeon

, which in recent years has become a fertile breeding ground for professional cycling.

also came from there

, who snatched fourth place overall from an outstanding

.

In 2017, a year after rejecting a first offer, the Briton made the leap to then 21-year-old Sky, achieving in these years good results in one-week races and bordering on glory in the last Vuelta, second at La Cubilla and third. in El Acebo.

He only lacked the freedom and consistency that he has enjoyed in this Giro to take the next big step.

But if there is something that shows their victory, it is that Ineos is still the best team in the world.

In the last three years, he has achieved victory in four major tours with four different riders (Froome, Thomas, Bernal and Geoghegan) and is currently leading the Vuelta with

.

In this Giro, he has not only achieved the general and the youth jersey, but has also added seven stages: four from Ganna, two from Geoghegan and one from

.

Of his other five riders, Thomas,

,

and

finished second in stages and

had three top-5s. Of course, they also took the team victory.

An overwhelming domain.

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