"A lack of talent, I guess" - Joshua Tarling shares what led to his Giro d'Italia-ending crash
Cycling
Joshua Tarling is starting his 2026 season at the UAE Tour this Monday and will be a big favourite for the race's time trial alongside Remco Evenepoel. Before the start of his season, INEOS has shared a video where the Briton provided insight into his past season where he's had a lot of new experiences.
One of them was his first Grand Tour win, which came at the Giro. “I honestly have better memories from the road stages. In a time trial you sit in the hot seat for ages, so it’s more relief when it happens," Tarling said in an INEOS Grenadiers video. "But the vibe was good — and I had Ben [Turner] as a leadout, and we did really well as a team. The days I worked well for Ben, or the gravel stage with Egan [Bernal]… that was cool.”
It were a few busy weeks for the 21-year old who had a domestique role for several of his other leaders aside from the time trial. "Even the days I went in the break were great. It was brutal, and even the day after the win I had to be in the break again. But I have better memories of the atmosphere, and helping Egan and Thymen [Arensman].”
However, his race came to an end on stage 16, fruit of a crash which he does not recall fondly. “It was more depressing because it was such a boring crash. Crashes are never cool, but if it’s spectacular, it makes sense that you’re battered. I just went straight on at a roundabout. A lack of talent, I guess".
Whilst his season did not end there, Tarling only raced again in September after suffering fractured vertebrae and tailbone; serious injuries which saw him struggle for a while. He did not race the national or World Championships; raced to fifth at the Europeans but then managed to improve his form and win the late-season Chrono des Nations, as well as take on the track during the winter.
2026 goals for the classics and leadouts
After months of preparation, he is now setting in for a new year, his fourth with INEOS. “I feel really good, I feel strong. I still need a bit of fine-tuning, but then I’ll be completely ready. I’m excited to get stuck in again. I want to start the Classics strongly. But leadouts will be fun too, with Ben sprinting better than ever — and of course Sam Welsford.”
He will team up with the Australian at UAE in an attempt to bring him in the sprints. “I hope to do it a lot better than last year. I hope everything goes well, that I’m in the right place — and then we’ll see how far we can get. I’ve got high expectations and a lot of hope. It’s going to be really fun.”
But stage 2, a 12-kilometer long effort against the clock, as flat as anyone could expect, could see him take his first win of the year. “I really like it. It’s quite technical, which suits me. That roundabout didn’t really go well… but it looks a bit like the Olympics, only slightly tougher. And the finish is twisty — that’ll be fun.”
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- What a gimmick
Rafionain-Glas06-11-2026 - Thats only cause he rides for UAE. In any other team he would be captain in many races atleast. UAE is just to crazymiguel06-11-2026
- He seems to be the rare athlete whose passion and curiosity about life beyond his sport equals his extraordinary achievements in it. It would be great for him to risk less of that life. He seems very grateful and joyful for what he has already attained.
MarkFour06-11-2026 - As much as I admire and even revere Wout, the less I know about his backside the better.MidnightRider06-11-2026
- Ok, Walt 🤣... Vingegaard would be lucky to get on the poduim. He would not beat Seixas or Del Toro, let alone TP. Then there are the Americans...BD06-11-2026
- So, for starters. Cycling is a saturated, static/dying sport in traditional lands, it will not have resurgences like eg running occasionally does because of several obstacular (yes, I know that’s not a word but don’t make me point out the obvious at your expense) factors. Obviously, like almost everything involving money, there is a desire/need/advantage to growth and that can only come from (developing or just testing) new markets. For me, the WC is the obvious and best choice for several reasons, it comes at the end of the season so is less critical season risk wise, it is not a “pro” team race but nation based which makes integration of uncommon participation more natural. It is a vehicle for redistribution (one of a very limited number of available mechanisms to develop new markers fairly) that the fixed calendar doesn’t allow and it helps make budgets fairer over the long run (moving the whole circus to everywhere evens out everyone’s budget as opposed to having everyone always come to the same location.Jumpyjohn06-11-2026
- Sad that a more refreshing article like this, which could generate discussion in a number of directions, gets completely ignored for the importance of debating the level of superiority of one rider into every single last detail, including a majority of totally hypothetical ones. People complain there is no news in the off season and it’s boring but don’t realise how boring it is to review the same old discussion over and over again, several times a day. In fact, you’d almost think this was a rider fan website. Instead of complaining about the FREE (as long as you pay attention to data use if not unlimited coz this site consumes almost as much for loading Youtube) content, the presence of cv of authors (for the missed obvious reason that it makes it easier to insert extra advertising without changing formats), the lack of quality/checking and depth of articles, why not also think about the content, quality and variety of posts that everyone can contribute to? The platform becomes irrelevant when discussion is interesting.Jumpyjohn06-11-2026
- UAE Team Emirates and Pogačar will officially unveil their objectives at the team’s media day, which will take place on December 18 in Benidorm, Spain. New information from the UAE Team: Exceptional recovery remains the cornerstone of success for the Slovenian cannibal-Pogi, whose sporting manager, Matxin, believes he will be even better in 2027 than he has been over the past three seasons.PogiSloFans06-11-2026
- Yeh, but he didn't and RE beat Pog & Del T 👍
leedorney06-11-2026 - Just my opinionleedorney06-11-2026
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