Josh Tarling in meteoric rise, matching Ganna and Evenepoel: "I almost don't link myself to their level"

Joshua Tarling was long known to be a huge talent, but has had a faster than expected rise within the professional ranks. In 2023 he signed with INEOS Grenadiers and began to race in the World Tour still as an 18-year old. He is still 20 but is going into the Olympic Games as a big favourite to win the time-trial event against the likes of Filippo Ganna and Remco Evenepoel.

Tarling has, without a doubt, had one of the fastest and most impressive developments in the history of pro cycling. At 19 years of age he became elite European time-trial champion beating Stefan Bissegger and Wout van Aert, but he has also already beaten Evenepoel at the Chrono des Nations to complete a brilliant season. In 2024, he already showed himself as a capable rider on the cobbled classics as well as a notable development on the climbs noted at the Criterium du Dauphiné.

But it is in the time-trials that the young Briton has the biggest chances of reaching the very top of the sport, although he himself struggles to grasp it: "In my eyes, I watch Ganna, and I watch Remco and other people as well, like Magnus [Sheffield] and [Brandon] McNulty and Wout [van Aert], and I almost don't link myself to their level," he said in an interview with CyclingWeekly.

Tarling arrives at the Olympics with one win under his belt this season, taken at O Gran Camiño, where he was unrivalled in a time-trial where GC times had been neutralized. The most accurate test for his abilities was at the recent Dauphiné where he was second only to Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian will be one of his biggest rivals in Paris, as is INEOS Grenadiers teammate Filippo Ganna. Tarling, interestingly, saw British Cycling hire Ganna's coach Dario Cioni to guide him into the Olympics.

At such a young age it is difficult to imagine that there is a big amount of pressure for Tarling to already triumph in such a big event, Tarling says that the pressure mostly comes from himself and his desire to improve, which has been constant ever since a young age. "Any pressure will be put on by me to do the performance rather than, 'I'm a favourite, I need to win'... I just want to win".