"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

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.