After back to back podiums in the U23 Liege-Bastogne-Liege and top 15s in the Tours of Britain and California, many expect Tao Geoghegan Hart to take the step up from Axel Merckx’s Axeon Development Team to the WorldTour in 2016.

“My early season was pretty good, Liège was an OK result, California was certainly a step up from last year, with the experience of being an out and out team leader, in terms of developing, learning how that works and being up there in GC of a big race,” he said of his season to Cyclingnews during last weekends British Nationals.

He says that while he knows he will have offers from the big teams this winter, he wants to keep racing hard to show himself and ensure he fulfills his dream of becoming a WorldTour rider.

“That [the WorldTour] is always the goal so it remains that until a time where it settles at that," he said. "Ultimately I just have to focus on the racing. I don’t want to set myself unattainable goals that may or may not happen so it’s just about keeping it realistic, focusing on the racing, and on life. Not getting caught up with things that may or may not happen, I think that’s a dangerous pastime."

"Every race is an opportunity to show yourself. That’s how I try to approach it - try to get something out of every race, whether that’s working for a teammate or trying to get a result for yourself. It’s important not to go to races just to ride round or just be there, I don’t see any gain from that."

He has plenty to keep himself busy with, as he has to race the Tours of Britain, Utah and the U23 Worlds in September, which takes place in the US, where he is based.

However, he is still keeping one eye on the future and what type of rider he would like to be.

“I’d like to be a GC rider, or that type of all rounder who can be used in those situations,” he said. “I was quite disappointed with Paris-Roubaix a few weeks ago, I was in the front group until the last three of four sectors where I was caught up in a big crash and that was the end of my chances of getting a result. I kind of wanted to go into that race to show I can be versatile and I can be a rider that can be utilised in different scenarios, so that was disappointing.”