Joshua Tarling believes he's 'under the radar' for Olympic win: "Ganna, Remco Evenepoel and Wout Van Aert have all done much more impressive stuff than I have"

Joshua Tarling is the reigning European and British time-trial champion and goes into the Olympic Games as a big favourite to take the victory this Saturday in the opening event. Despite this, he believes he is flying under the radar; and has commented on topics such as his rivals and Wout van Aert's double disc wheel bike.

"I think the time trial is kind of determined on how hard you can go, so long as I get everything out, then I know that's what I get. But of course, I'd like to win it. There's no expectation because I can't control that. As long as I know I've done everything I can on my side, as long as I'm happy with my ride, I'll be happy," Tarling said in an interview with Cyclingnews.

The 20-year old has already explored the 32-kilometer course on several occasions in the run-up to the big day and he believes that the lack of climbing will put him in a match with World Champion Remco Evenepoel: "It's a course where you do need the absolute watts. Remco is obviously better than me and Ganna on the hillier courses but I don't think he's at a disadvantage on a flat course. Obviously, the faster you go, the more aero makes a difference.

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"Ganna, Remco Evenepoel and Wout Van Aert have all done much more impressive stuff than I have," he says, regarding the time-trials. It is not the case with van Aert certainly who comes as an outsider, not having performed against the clock this year for a number of reasons. "My name flies under the radar in some ways and that's quite nice," he argues.

He was also asked about Wout van Aert's double disk wheel bike, which the Belgian may use in his effort this Saturday: "Good luck to him... It's clever if he thinks there's a gain in it. If he's tested it, then go for it. I know the first and last five kilometres are bumpy, and so harsh on a disc wheel. I've never ridden one outside but I'm sure the corners won't be amazing on it either. Because the corners are fast, you need to really make the most out of them."