"Wout, Mads and Primoz really scared me, it was a stressful day" - Joshua Tarling turns anxiety to ecstasy with first Grand Tour stage win at 2025 Giro d'Italia
Cycling
One of the most highly regarded time trialist in the whole of the peloton, Joshua Tarling was still missing a Grand Tour stage win from his palmares before today. On stage 2 of the 2025 Giro d'Italia however, the Welsh powerhouse judged his efforts to perfection to edge out Primoz Roglic and take the win.
"I can't believe it, I'm so happy," Tarling reflected with a smile in his post-stage interview afterwards, having not only taken the first Grand Tour stage win of his own career, but also become the youngest man ever to win a time trial stage at the iconic Italian Grand Tour. "The wait wasn't nice, I don't want to do it again. It was a long day for 13km."
After losing some time on stage 1, Tarling kicked off his time trial much earlier than the rest of the pre-stage favourites. That meant for a long and anxious wait in the hotseat as rider after rider struggled to match the power of the INEOS Grenadiers star. "I was afraid of all the favourites," Tarling admits honestly. "Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen and Primoz Roglic really scared me, it was a stressful day."
Whilst they might have scared him, none could beat Tarling, although Roglic came mightily close, finishing just one second slower than the 21-year-old Welshman. "We did the first part smoothly and in control, with the climb nice and hard. The last section was harder than we thought in the recon ride, so I made sure to really hurt there," concluded Tarling's analysis of the ride.
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🎙️ "I can't believe it to be honest, I'm so happy. The wait was not nice, it was a long day for a 13 KM stage." - 🏆 🏴 Joshua Tarling #GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/TVO2igcZTR
— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 10, 2025
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- That's an excellent point. It's interesting that Vader came to that realization only after he learned that his contract wasn't going to be renewed.
santiagobenites14-11-2026 - Indeed! A reluctant gift maybe. Even more reluctant gift from Roglic! Tho I can’t see that Rog would have beaten Ving anyway.Lozza14-11-2026
- That really nasty crash in 2022 Liege must have played a big part - broken ribs, pneumothorax. You only have to look at his points tallies pre and post.Lozza14-11-2026
- Yeah, good luck getting tv and race organisers like ASO etc to part with their cash!Lozza14-11-2026
- 36 and Ineos have bought a rider on the downward slope. Bring back Dave and Rob who could manage the team. How are Ineos going to win a grand tour with people past their sell by date.paultryan200214-11-2026
- Mmmm would he be making these comments when he was on the richest team when riding. I think not i suspect. If we want money put into the sport we need sponsors who are prepared to put the money in. No disrespect but his team are 2nd or 3rd div in football terms with riders over the hill or 2nd string riders. If i was a sponsor i would be looking at what publicity am i getting back and Tudor really are just making up the numbers really.paultryan200214-11-2026
- I see (elsewhere) that Alaphilippe had more to say than what got relayed in this stub. Me: he was very good early but his latter third trajectory was the pits. His old boss did what he could (huffed and puffed) but Julian couldn't get his greatness back. Sometimes I wonder if crashes that didn't look like much changed the course of the rider.flyer14-11-2026
- I wouldn't classify it as a gift because the nasty consequences of taking it from Sepp would have been great and would persist and he knew it.flyer14-11-2026
- Ok. Tratnik's good and Red Bull's better so Tratnik may get what he wants.flyer14-11-2026
- Ok. So just saying he wasn't enjoying racing anymore is some kind of explanation? Me saying I don't enjoy his explanation is more explaining than he did.flyer14-11-2026
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