Ffosyffin cyclist Josh Tarling, 17, has been selected to represent Great Britain in the upcoming World Cycling Championships in Belgium in both the time trial and the road race

Josh travelled to Belgium at the weekend ahead of the Time Trial on Tuesday, 21 September and the Road Race on Friday, 24 September as one of four junior men selected to ride. Josh and Finlay Pickering will ride the time trial while all four riders will compete in the road race.

The time trial is a flat and fast 22km race between Knokke-Heist on the Belgian coast and the finish in Bruge city centre. It will be a test of pure speed with no hills to break the rhythm and should favour the bigger, stronger riders.

The road race is held in Leuven and is a much tougher affair featuring three steep, cobbled hills on each of the six laps and over a distance of 130km.

As a first year junior it’s a real achievement to be selected and will pit Josh against the best riders in the world.

His call up follows his third-placed finish at a major European junior one-day bike race in Luxembourg last week.

The event, the Grand Prix Bob Jungels, is one of the highest ranked international races on the calendar and brought together 149 of the best junior (U19) cyclists in the world on a difficult, hilly course of 131km around the Luxembourg hills.

The race featured many of the “feeder” teams for the larger professional senior teams such as the French based AG2R squad and a strong USA national team in Europe preparing for the upcoming world championships.

This was also the first time Josh has been able to compete for his Belgian FlandersColor Galloo team following a change in Covid rules for elite athletes competing in Europe. As a result he was keen to make and impression and rode in his usual aggressive way.

The course took in 11 laps of a hilly circuit and by the end of the first lap Josh had broken clear riding solo 50 seconds off the front. With close to 75 miles still remaining this move was more to force the bunch to chase and potential split rather than a bid for the win. The plan worked perfectly with a strong group of 14 riders bridging up by the end of the third lap.

This group of 14 carved out a three-minute lead over the chasing bunch and as the race entered the final lap Josh attacked off the front forcing a group of three clear. This group managed to break the elastic and, despite another attack from Josh on the main hill, fought out the finish between them.

Despite feeling strong Josh unfortunately left his sprint a little late but was pleased to take not only third place but also two bonus sprints and the best young rider competition.

The top 10 featured riders from nine different nationalities and showed Josh is in good form ahead of the world championships.