Tao Geoghegan Hart visits Eagle Road Club

Already a fantastic public speaker

Tao Geoghegan Hart was the guest speaker at the East London and Essex-based Eagle Road Club's annual awards ceremony and dinner. Braving the snowy weather, the 17 year old racing cyclist attended with his brother Bede on Saturday, January 19th.
A native of Hackney, London, and a member of Cycling Club Hackney, Geoghegen Hart (pronounced 'gegen') is a hot tip to replace Bradley Wiggins one day. He is already a very well known racer in the East London scene, and a member of the British Cycling Olympic Development Junior Programme.
After the dinner and awards, I interviewed Tao in front of the assembled club, and he said some interesting things. Asked what his ultimate ambition was, and he didn't hesitate to say that it was winning the Tour de France one day. Asked who his ultimate role model was from today's Pro-Peleton, and he unequivocally chose Bradley Wiggins, explaining that for the best part of a century British riders had struggled to make a lasting impression on the continental scene, and that Wiggins had effectively broken the deadlock with his spectacular 2012 season.We noticed his Fifties-esque suit and thin black tie!
Starting out as a promising swimmer, aged 13, Tao recalled being 'doored' by a minicab driver on the Leabridge Road in East London. The term means being knocked off your bike by someone flinging open a car door. He was injured and couldn't swim for eight weeks. He finally got back to normal by riding a popular night time cycling event that threads its way from Hackney to Dunwich on the Suffolk Coast (the 'Dunwich Dynamo') with a friend, and attributes to this ride his new-born love of cycling and the moment at which he started to drift away from swimming.
He then quickly became a leading light among youth riders, winning numerous races and often lapping much more experienced riders. Although still officially riding for Cycling Club Hackney in domestic events, at least half his season is now racing overseas, in a British Cycling jersey. At the dinner he was displaying just such a jersey from the 2012 Junior edition of Paris-Roubaix. He was involved in a incident and crashed at an estimated 60km/h, ripping the shoulder of the shirt and hurting his back, but still completing the course. Speaking of the event, he described it as one of the greatest events there is in the cycling calendar, not least because of the human theatre and "spectators lighting up barbecues by the side of the road, the smell of grilled meat hitting you in the face as you speed by." He will ride it again in 2013, using the Eagle Road Club-hosted Good Friday racing event at Redbridge Cycling Centre as part of his preparation.
Speaking of the women's scene, and in light of the fact that Tao's cousin Emma Grant is also a top amateur on the US circuit, Tao made a heartfelt plea for better treatment of female athletes and a more organised sponsorship scene, better events and a greater level of professionalism and investment. He echoed outspoken comments by British Olympic road race champ Nicole Cooke, who retired earlier in the week.
Tao enthralled the Eagles with a behind-the-scenes recollection of what had happened last summer just before the Olympics. The Belgian squad had spent six hours sweltering on the M25 in order to recce the Box Hill section of the men's Olympic Road Race. The next day they resolved to ride straight out the Olympic Village in East London, but not having a clue about the roads were pout in touch with Tao, who acted as a guide. After an hour's riding, the four-man squad, which included super-stars Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert, asked if they could stop for a coffee. Tao took them to The Bridge in Abridge, and they loved it because of its low key ambience. But there was a problem. None of them had a penny between them so Tao had to convince the owner to run up a tab for next-day payment, with an order of six coffees, one green tea and one piece of cake. Apparently the next day they went out again but ended up in British coffee chain Costa, less popular because the autograph hunters cottoned on and the riders were interrupted too much to really relax.
The Eagle Evening ended with a special presentation of the famous Eagle RC cap to Tao by club veteran and time keeper Peter Smith, and thanks by Tao to the six sponsors who already support him on an individual basis: Condor, Rapha, Giro, Madison, Neovite and GARMIN.
Tao already has a very popular blog: taogeoghegenhart.blogspot.co.uk

Yours truly with Tao