Tarling powers to Giro TT victory

Josh Tarling produced a storming time trial performance to claim victory on stage two of the Giro d’Italia.



The INEOS Grenadier clocked a winning time of 16 minutes and seven seconds across the 13.7-kilometre course in Albania.

The Welshman was forced to endure a nervous wait on the hot seat, with Primoz Roglic (Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe) crossing the line a second short of Tarling’s benchmark.



Not only was it Tarling’s first Grand Tour stage win success, the 21 year old also became the youngest winner of a Giro time trial in the race’s illustrious history.

The stage featured a fourth-category climb, with Tarling measuring his efforts well on the ascent, before driving home his advantage on the flat run for home and overturning a deficit to a handful of riders.

Thymen Arensman rebounded well from losing time on the opening day, setting the 15th fastest time. Coming home 22 seconds back on his teammate, the Dutchman’s effort stacked up favourably among the GC contenders. 



Egan Bernal remains the best-placed Grenadier overall, now in 22nd position on GC, 48 seconds back on new race leader Roglic.

Reaction

Josh Tarling: "I can't believe it to be honest. I've been trying [for a long time]. I'm so happy. [The wait] wasn't nice - I don't want to do it again. It was a long day for 13km!

"[I feared] all the big favourites. Wout, Mads, Primoz really scared me. It was a stressful day. 

"I think we did the first part smooth and controlled with the climb, nice and hard. And then this last section I thought was harder than we reconed. So I made sure to really hurt in the last section.

"I went all-in yesterday. This is what we get and I'm super happy."