Tao Geoghegan Hart to miss Tour de France after illness at Tour de Suisse

Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek) will miss the upcoming Tour de France in July due to illness from the Tour de Suisse. The British rider finished the race in 25th, but announced via social media that he had been suffering from illness throughout the race, and that he would need some time off to recover, and thus will skip the Tour de France in July.

"Really enjoyed the first stages of the tour of Switzerland, back in a WorldTour peloton for the first time properly this year," Geoghegan Hart shared on Instagram. "Unfortunately, the last 5 days I got sick with a mild chest infection and felt progressively more lousy toward the end of the week, even just to finish the race."

The 29-year-old has been working to regain top form following a serious crash at the 2023 Giro d'Italia, where he fractured his hip, which required extensive rehabilitation. His withdrawal from the upcoming Tour represents a setback in his attempt to return to his best form.

"At times, the body feels like it's coming back to some semblance of my prior level, and I'm definitely seeing glimpses of that, but it's proving quite tricky to bring all the pieces of the puzzle together at once."

The 2020 Giro d'Italia winner now plans to take a week of rest before resuming training with his sights set on returning to racing in August. "Looking forward to a week of rest now and then some consistent training before more racing in August."

The absence of Geoghegan Hart for the Tour will be disappointing for Lidl-Trek, who will lose a key rider who could have supported Mattias Skjelmose in the mountains. However, Lidl-Trek is still expected to field a strong team for the race, with Skjelmose, alongside the likes of Jonathan Milan and Thibau Nys.