"Sh*t happens" - Puncture ruins Joshua Tarling's Olympic dream at time-trial

A few riders worked for months on end for these Olympic Games and the time-trial event, taking place over only 32 kilometers to go, is nothing in comparison to the kilometers that have been put in by the riders ahead of the big day. At the worst possible time, Joshua Tarling suffered a puncture and ended up right outside the podium because of this.

"Shit happens, innit," Tarling said straight to the microphones of Eurosport. Words that reflect quite accurately his day out on the bike, after months of preparation for this race which, without the mishap, would've likely resulted in a second place at worst. “It’s a big disappointment. I tried, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I want to congratulate the Belgians. They’re good and will do the same in the road race," he told Sporza in a post-race interview.

Tarling punctured right in the first kilometers of his effort and had to stop to change bikes, a move that cost him quite a few seconds. “I had a flat front tire. There was nothing I could do about it. I was riding completely on the rim very quickly. If it had been a slow flat tire, I might have been able to continue. But with the corners coming up, I had to change.”

Although he still featured among the 10 fastest over the first intermediate point, this caused too much damage in his effort and ultimately, saw him never make it back to the podium in the intermediate points. He finished the race 2 seconds slower than Wout van Aert and 12 seconds slower than Filippo Ganna, surely riders that would've been defeated by the Briton in ideal conditions.

He lost 27 seconds to Remco Evenepoel, we will never know if the gold medal was achievable for the 20-year old, but it is a massive disappointment. “I don’t know how much that incident cost me. Everyone rode a good time trial, they deserve their medals. So I don’t want to think too hard about what could have happened. I’m mainly looking forward to the road race now.” The Briton will still race the road race, where he can still show off his great form and can be an outsider.