After taking home more than €300,000 from the Giro d'Italia, Tao Geoghegan Hart saw a chunk of that prize money disappear as he honoured a bet he'd made with his brother.
Having been told by his younger brother Bede that he could win the Giro, the 25-year-old said "don't be ridiculous" and told him he'd buy him a car if it did happen.
Just a few days later, Geoghegan Hart pulled on the maglia rosa and lifted the trofeo senza fina on the final podium in Milan, having turned the race on its head in the Alps. This week, he had an appointment at a car showroom in London.
On a visit to the Pinarello store in London this week, where he was presented with a commemorative pink bike, Geoghegan Hart revealed the terms of the wager.
"Have you heard about the bet I made with my other brother? It’s cost me a car, winning the Giro," he said.
"Stage 15 I bet him that 'there’s no chance I’m going to win this, don’t be ridiculous, I’ll buy you a new car if I win'. And yeah."
True to his word, Geoghegan Hart followed through and purchased the new wheels, posing for a photo with his brother on the bonnet of a blue Volkswagen.
"Score settled," he wrote on social media. "Don't gamble kids... and don't bet against yourself either."
Geoghegan Hart's Giro haul, made up of two stage wins as well as the overall title, was just one part of a bumper prize money pot for Ineos Grenadiers. The British team took home roughly €430,693 after winning no fewer than seven stages, Filippo Ganna winning four and Jhonatan Narvaez taking the other one.
Team Sunweb were the team with the second biggest payout, with €278,093, after both Jai Hindley and Wilco Kelderman finished on the final podium.
