Geoghegan Hart leads new generation at Vuelta a Espana

The 23-year-old is set to make his Grand Tour debut on Saturday when one of the world’s most famous races gets underway again.

He is part of an eight-man Team Sky crew heading for Malaga, which also includes fellow debutante Pavel Sivakov of Russia, Poland's Michal Kwiatkowski, Spain's David de la Cruz and Jonathan Castroviejo, Colombia's Sergio Henao, Italy's Salvatore Puccio, and Dylan van Baarle of the Netherlands.

"I've been building towards this since I first started with Team Sky, and in many ways, for years prior to turning professional," said Geoghegan Hart.

"I'm really looking forward to doing the lap of Spain with such a strong squad and trying to learn as much as I can."

For Geoghegan Hart, this opportunity has been in the pipeline for some time and comes towards the end of a very promising couple of years on the road.

The Londoner finished eighth in last year’s Tour de Yorkshire and fifth overall in both the Tour of California and the Vuelta a Burgos earlier this year.

"In Tao Geoghegan Hart and Pavel Sivakov, we have two young riders who I'm convinced will experience success in Grand Tours in the future,” said Sky's team principal Sir Dave Brailsford.

"Their willingness to make the sacrifices necessary to succeed, commitment to hard work, and most importantly, their desire to learn, have been exemplary and I couldn't be more proud of them."

Sportsbeat 2018