FFOSYFFIN’S Josh Tarling has done it again. The young Ineos Grenadier cyclist produced a brilliant ride to claim back-to-back National Road Championships elite time-trial wins.
The 20-year-old finished over a minute ahead of his nearest competitor on the first day of the 2024 Lloyds Bank National Road Championships in North Yorkshire on Wednesday, to claim his third major title in a year.
Riders took on two laps of the 15km course in Catterick, scaling 500m of climbing.
Tarling clocked 39:21.50 to finish over a minute ahead of his nearest rivals Max Walker (Astana Qazaqstan Development Team) and Ethan Vernon (Israel – Premier Tech).
His latest success came a year on from making history as the youngest ever winner of the event.
As the final rider to set off, Tarling went all guns blazing on the first 15km lap to set a time of 19:21.42, just under a minute ahead of Sam Watson (GROUPAMA – FDJ).
Scaling over 500m of climbing over the two laps, the Welshman continued to push on ferociously, and crossed the line in his European stripes to claim a second elite national time-trial title.
Walker finished superbly to take second place in 40:35.37 and secure another national medal, having won bronze in the under-23 road race last year.
Vernon secured the bronze medal in a time of 40:45.70, after a strong second lap effort, pushing him up from sixth into the medal places.
Speaking after his victory, Tarling said: “I was a bit nervous coming into it – there are a few guys on good form and everything is getting close to the Olympics and it’s a last chance to get a TT in so I was a bit stressed.
“I just committed and hung on.
“Last year, if you blew up, you could still roll fast, but the second lap this year I was three or four km an hour slower.
“It was way harder this year, but it’s all going well.
“I’m going to try and knuckle down after this and go to altitude for a few weeks. I need to sharpen up a bit, but I’m excited about the rest of the season.”
The former Ysgol Gyfun Aberaeron pupil rode a blisteringly-quick time trial to be crowned the elite men’s national champion in his first year in the elite ranks a year ago followed up by a bronze in the World Championships Time Trial.