Joshua Tarling reacts to possibility of becoming a GC rider in the future: "I'd like to but they're f**king good"

This week’s British National Championships time trial was a perfect opportunity for Joshua Tarling to test his legs with view to Olympic Games in a little bit more than a month.

Tarling suffered a broken bone in his knee at Paris Roubaix in April, which set him a few weeks back in his preparation, but that doesn't seem to be the INEOS Grenadiers star's concern anymore. "I think we're getting there. There's a few things I need to sharpen up, but now it's slowly progressing," Tarling told Cyclingnews after the podium ceremony.

After the Olympics, Tarling is hoping for a spot on Ineos Grenadiers’ squad for La Vuelta a Espana. He has one eye on the opening stage of this year’s edition, a 12-kilometre solo effort from Lisbon to Oeiras, admitting "I know there’s a prologue but it's a bit of a grim one, so we'll see."

The Spanish Grand tour is sometimes a bit overlooked due to its position in late in the season. However the combination of scorching sun and often extremely steep climbs makes for a race worthy its status. Vuelta is also often a chance for teams to throw their young talent into water and see whether they learn to swim or drawn in the depths of result sheet.

Despite his weight (listed at 78 kg) Tarling doesn't seem to be unfamiliar with uphill efforts. We have already seen the 20-year-old handle mountains very well on multiple occasions, be it latest Critérium du Dauphiné or Gran Camino at the start of the year.

The interviewer tries to draw a comparison to 2012 Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins who underwent similar transformation. When probed on whether we might one day see the Welshman make a similar transition from pure time triallist to overall classification contender, Tarling said "I'd like to. I've got to get skinny first, though."

"I'd like to," he said, repeating himself, seeming to confirm that this is something he has thought a lot about, "but they're f**king good, you know? We'll see."