Joshua Michael Tarling (born 15 February 2004) is a Welsh track and

road cyclist Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes Recreational cycling, recreational, Road bicycle racing, racing, Bicycle commuting, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, ...

, who currently rides for

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road bicycle racing, road cycling, the UCI World Tou ...

. A World Junior champion in the

time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

, he won the elite time trial at the 2023 European Road Cycling Championships at the age of 19.

Early and personal life

Tarling was born and grew up in

Aberaeron Aberaeron (), previously anglicised as Aberayron, is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales. Located on the coast between Aberystwyth and Cardigan, its resident population was 1,274 in the 2021 census. The name of the town i ...

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

, west

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. He speaks English and Welsh. He has a younger brother,

Finlay Tarling Finlay (Fin) Tarling (born 2 October 2006) is a Welsh track and road cyclist who rides for . He is the younger brother of Welsh track and road cyclist Josh Tarling. In 2023 he won silver medals in the team pursuit at the Junior European Trac ...

, who is also a cyclist and has signed to the Israel Premier Tech Academy for the 2025 season. Their father, Michael, is a keen cyclist who used to race at Newport Velodrome. In 2012, Tarling’s parents started the West Wales Cycle Racing Team, in part to address the lack of cycling clubs in the area. Tarling started racing when he was around six years old. He has described that he was “pretty much a full-time cyclist from the age of 10”, travelling across the UK and Europe with his family for races. He raced his first time trial when he was 12 years old. Tarling has moved from Wales to

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

since turning professional in 2023.

Cycling career

Early career

Tarling became a double British champion when winning the

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

and

team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

events at the 2022 British National Track Championships. He won the World junior time trial championship in 2022, having won the silver medal in 2021.

Ineos Grenadiers (2023–)

For the 2023 season, Tarling joined

on a three-year contract. His first race with the team was the

Étoile de Bessèges The Étoile de Bessèges () is an early-season five-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually around Bessèges, in the Gard department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. First organized in 1971 as a one-day race, it became a ...

in February; he finished 56th overall but finished second in the final stage time trial, which was won by Mads Pedersen. In March, Tarling competed in

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the ...

; he made the Stage 7 breakaway group but had to abandon after crashing on a descent. Later that month he started his first elite

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...

, the E3 Saxo Classic, though he did not finish. In April he competed in his first

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

, the

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Cycling monument, Monuments' ...

. Though he missed the time cut by six minutes, he finished the course, making him – at the age of 19 – the youngest rider to finish the men’s race in 86 years. In June, aged 19, Tarling became the youngest winner of the British national elite men's time trial championship. The following month he raced in the

Tour de Wallonie The Tour de Wallonie is a stage race cycling race on the UCI Europe Tour. It runs in Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium in the end of July. Between 1974 and 1995 it was reserved to amateurs. Since 2005, the race has been organized as a ...

. He won the Youth Classification and finished second overall, beaten only by Ineos teammate

Filippo Ganna Filippo Ganna (born 25 July 1996) is an Italian track and road cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He is a record-breaking six-time world champion in the individual pursuit, winning a total of nine medals at the UCI Track Cycling Wo ...

. He finished second on the Stage 4 time-trial, which was also won by Ganna. In August, Tarling finished third in the

at the

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and , a UCI Road World Championships ...

behind

Remco Evenepoel Remco Evenepoel (; born 25 January 2000) is a Belgian professional cyclist and Olympic gold medalist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . Evenepoel is widely regarded as one of the best Individual time trial, time trialists of his generation; he is a t ...

and Ganna. On 20 September 2023 he won the European Time Trial Championships, beating

Stefan Bissegger Stefan Bissegger (born 13 September 1998) is a Swiss professional road and track bicycle racing, racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He rode in the 2018 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Men's individual pursuit, men's ...

and

Wout Van Aert Wout van Aert (born 15 September 1994) is a Belgian professional road bicycle racing, road and cyclo-cross Cycle sport, racer who rides for UCI WorldTeam . Van Aert won three consecutive men's races at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in ...

to the gold medal. In October, Tarling rounded out his road racing season with a win at Chrono des Nations, beating Evenepoel by 13 seconds and Bissegger in third place by more than a minute. In February 2024, Tarling competed at the first round of the UCI Track Nations Cup in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. He took bronze in the madison with Ollie Wood and won gold in the

alongside William Tidball, Rhys Britton and

Charlie Tanfield Charles Tanfield (born 17 November 1996) is a British racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Continental team and the Great Britain national track cycling team. He competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris winning the silver medal in the Team pu ...

. Later that month, Tarling won the opening time trial of the O Gran Camiño, beating second-place finisher Darren Rafferty by 42 seconds. Tarling raced in the

Dwars door Vlaanderen ''Dwars door Vlaanderen'' ('Across Flanders') is a semi-classic road bicycle race in Belgium, held annually since 1945. The race starts in Roeselare and finishes in Waregem, both in West Flanders. Since 2017 the event is included in the UCI Wor ...

in March, finishing in sixth position after a dramatic race, 44 seconds behind race winner

Matteo Jorgenson Matteo Jorgenson ( ; born July 1, 1999) is an American professional cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Known for his prowess in the mountains, he is the two-time defending winner of Paris–Nice. Jorgenson was born in Walnut Creek, ...

. He followed this up with a 17th place finish at the

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

– his second monument race – four days later. In April, Tarling was on the start line of

for a second time, however he was disqualified midway through the race for taking an illegal tow from the Ineos team car following a mechanical issue. In June, he raced in the

Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycle sport, cycling road bicycle racing, road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during ...

, where he finished 46th overall and came second in the Stage 4 time-trial to Remco Evenepoel. Later that month Tarling defended his National Time Trial title, beating runner-up

Max Walker Maxwell Henry Norman Walker (12 September 1948 – 28 September 2016) was an Australian sportsman who played both cricket and Australian rules football at high levels. After six years of balancing first-class cricket in summer, professional fo ...

by more than a minute. On 24 June 2024, it was announced that Tarling would be part of the

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. ...

squad competing at the

2024 Olympic Games The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He came fourth in the

having suffered a puncture, finishing just 2.16 seconds outside the medal placings. He also competed in the road race a week later, crossing the line in 47th place with the peloton. In early July 2024, Tarling signed a new three-year contract with Ineos, extending his stint with the team until the end of 2027. On 13 August the team announced that Tarling would be making his Grand Tour debut at the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

, which was followed by expectations that he would perform well in the two time trial stages at the start and end of the race. He finished in sixth place on the Stage 1 time trial, 8 seconds back from stage winner

Brandon McNulty Brandon Alexander McNulty (born April 2, 1998) is an American cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . In the 2016 UCI Road World Championships – Men's junior time trial, 2016 UCI Junior World Time Trial Championships McNulty became the fourth Ame ...

. On Stage 9, Tarling crashed on a technical descent; while he was initially able to continue, he abandoned the race a few kilometres later. In September, Tarling was selected for the Great Britain team at the

2024 UCI Road World Championships The 2024 UCI Road World Championships was the 97th edition of the UCI Road World Championships, the annual world championships for road bicycle racing. It was held between 22 and 29 September 2024 in Zürich, Switzerland, alongside the 2024 UCI ...

. He competed in the

and finished fourth, beaten to the podium by Evenepoel, Ganna and

Edoardo Affini Edoardo Affini (born 24 June 1996 in Mantua) is an Italian cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . A time trial specialist, Affini won the 2024 European Road Championships – Men's time trial, 2024 European Championships, having also won ...

. On 7 October 2024 it was announced that Tarling had been selected for the

UCI Track Cycling World Championships The UCI Track Cycling World Championships are the set of world championship events for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling. They are regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale. Before 1900, they were administered by the UCI ...

. He was forced to withdraw shortly before the event due to injuries sustained at the CRO Race earlier in the month.

Major results

Road

;2021 : 2nd Silver medal uci

Time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

, UCI World Junior Championships : 2nd

, National Junior Championships : 2nd Overall

Driedaagse van Axel The SPIE Internationale Junioren Driedaagse van Axel () is a junior (ages 17–18) multi-day cycling race held annually in the Netherlands. It was part of the UCI Junior World Cup from 1993 to 2007. Winners References External links

* Cy ...

::1st Stage 2a (

ITT ITT may refer to: Communication *Tank phone, Infantry-Tank Telephone, a device allowing infantrymen to speak to the occupants of armoured vehicles. Mathematics *Intuitionistic type theory, other name of Martin-Löf Type Theory *Intensional typ ...

) : 3rd Grand Prix Bob Jungels ;2022 : 1st Jersey rainbow chrono

, UCI World Junior Championships : 1st

, National Junior Championships : 1st Overall

Tour de Gironde The Tour de Gironde is a road bicycle race held annually in France. It was organised as a 2.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cy ...

::1st Stage 1a (

) : 1st Chrono des Nations Juniors : 1st Stage 3a (

)

Saarland Trofeo The Saarland Trofeo, formerly the Trofeo Karlsberg, is a junior multi-day cycling race held annually in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the Nort ...

: 2nd Overall

Junior Tour of Wales The Junior Tour of Wales is an annual cycle race for junior male riders, held around Brynmawr, Blaenau Gwent, Wales. First held in 1981, the race is the final round of the British Cycling Junior Road Series – and as such attracts the best junio ...

::1st Stages 1 (

) & 5 : 6th Overall Trophée Centre Morbihan ::1st Mountains classification ::1st Stage 2a (

) ;2023 (4 pro wins) : 1st

, UEC European Championships : 1st

, National Championships : 1st Chrono des Nations : 1st Stage 2 (

) Renewi Tour : 2nd Overall

::1st Young rider classification : 3rd Bronze medal uci

UCI World Championships The UCI World Championships are annual competitions promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to determine world champion cyclists. They are held in several different styles of racing, in a different country each year. Championship winn ...

;2024 (2) : 1st

, National Championships : 1st Stage 1 (

) O Gran Camiño : 4th

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

: 4th

: 6th

;2025 (2) : 1st Stage 2 (

)

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

: 1st Stage 2 (

)

UAE Tour The UAE Tour () are road cycling stage races in the United Arab Emirates. A men's event was first held in 2019 as part of the UCI World Tour. It was created as a result of the merging of the Abu Dhabi Tour and the Dubai Tour. A women's event was ...

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

=Major championships timeline

Track

;2021 : UEC European Junior Championships ::1st Omnium ::1st Team pursuit : National Junior Championships ::1st

Points race A points race is a mass start track cycling event involving large numbers of riders simultaneously on track. It was an Olympic event for men from 1984 to 2008 and for women from 1996 to 2008. Since 2012, the points race has been one of the omniu ...

::2nd Madison (with Josh Charlton) ::3rd

Individual pursuit The individual pursuit is a track cycling event where two cyclists begin the race from a stationary position on opposite sides of the track. It is held at over for men and women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the rac ...

::3rd Scratch ;2022 : National Championships ::1st

Team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

::1st

: UEC European Junior Championships ::3rd Bronze medal europe

Individual pursuit ::3rd Bronze medal europe

Team pursuit ::3rd Bronze medal europe

Madison (with Dylan Hicks) ;2023 : UEC European Under-23 Championships ::1st Team pursuit ::3rd Bronze medal europe

Individual pursuit ;2024 : UCI Nations Cup ::1st Team pursuit, Adelaide ::3rd Madison, Adelaide (with Oli Wood)

References

External links

Josh Tarling
at

British Cycling British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national sport governing body, governing body for cycle sport in United Kingdom, Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands a ...

* *
Josh Tarling
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarling, Joshua 2004 births Living people British track cyclists Welsh track cyclists Welsh male cyclists British male cyclists Commonwealth Games cyclists for Wales Cyclists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Great Britain Sportspeople from Ceredigion 21st-century British sportsmen British Giro d'Italia stage winners People from Aberaeron