"It was nice and strong straight away" - Joshua Tarling makes a miraculous recovery to be part of 2026 Tour de France
CyclingThursday, 02 July 2026 at 03:00
Netcompany INEOS has had a rather miserable run up to the 2026 Tour de France. Their leader Oscar Onley crasher hard at Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, on the same day as Joshua Tarling. Team's former hope Carlos Rodríguez was left out after inconsistent preparation, and the British team pretty much enters the race without a clear leader.
But there's at least a small positive news; Joshua Tarling has managed to recover from his broken collarbone in time for a Tour de France debut. No, his presence doesn't solve Netcompany INEOS' great issue of lacking GC leader. Neither can Tarling look forward to his own opportunity as the race's only individual time trial includes a 10-kilometer climb - far from Tarling's ideal.
In any case, this doesn't take away from the 22-year-old's excitement to be part of the 2026 selection, despite the complications.
Since a fractured clavicle typically takes six to twelve weeks to recover, it was a race against time to put Tarling together in time: "I went straight to Germany to get it pinned, so it was nice and strong straight away," Tarling explained his remarkable recovery.
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Far from ideal, but still pretty smooth
That was already mid-June. The injury however did not stop Tarling from tagging along with his teammates to final preparation camp. Even though with a slightly more individual training programme.
"Then I could go back to [camp] with everybody, obviously a couple of days on the turbo, but yeah, I'm back to normal really, maybe a bit less on the TT bike than I would have done, but to be honest it's been pretty smooth, physio and all that stuff."
Joshua Tarling on a time trial bike
"I’m just super happy and really looking forward to it," said Tarling on the team's website. "We’ve got a power team so I’m really excited with the team that we have for the TT and stages, so we’re going to have a good Tour together."
While his recovery is nothing short of a small miracle, he's not the only rider to have made such a well-timed comeback. Last year, Jonas Abrahamsen suffered a broken collarbone even a week later than Tarling now, and still managed not only to return to the Tour, but even win a stage 11. INEOS certainly wouldn't mind if Tarling were to repeat such a feat...
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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