Introducing Josh Tarling, the junior world champion set to bolster Ineos Grenadiers

Josh Tarling may be one of the youngest racers in the WorldTour bunch next year, but at 194 centimetres tall, he’ll also be one of the tallest. As a junior racer in 2022, he was certainly head and shoulders above his peers. 

On the road, he won the Tour de Gironde, and went on to triumph in time trials in the Trophée Centre Morbihan and LVM Saarland Trofeo. On the track, he turned out for Wales in the Team Pursuit at the Commonwealth Games and had European junior titles in the Omnium and Team Pursuit from last year.

The biggest win of his career came at the UCI Road World Championships, racing to junior time trial gold in Wollongong, 19 seconds ahead of closest challenger Hamish McKenzie. Before that result, the powerhouse had already been snapped up by INEOS Grenadiers. He is going straight from the junior ranks to the top tier, having signed a deal until the end of 2025.

It’s the beginning of an exciting journey for the 18-year-old Welshman, who will no doubt hope to enjoy as illustrious a career as past junior TT rainbow jersey winners Fabian Cancellara, Marcel Kittel and Michal Kwiatkowski. 

Cyclingnews caught up with Tarling at the recent Rouleur Live show in London to hear about his whirlwind season, initial experiences with INEOS Grenadiers and future hopes.

Cyclingnews: What are your first impressions of INEOS Grenadiers after the first winter camp?

Josh Tarling: It’s big and really cool, they’ve got the biggest support network going so it kind of takes all the nerves away. It’s like one big family, even though there are a million people there, and everyone’s so friendly and nice.

CN: Why did you choose INEOS Grenadiers?

JT: I love the family aspect of it. The amount of help they can give me is unreal, more than I could ask for. It’s the best place to learn and develop with the most experienced riders in the peloton. For me, it’s so exciting.

CN: How was the camp?

JT: I was supposed to room with Cam Wurf, but he had Covid. He did come to the end of the camp when he was negative. I was by myself [in the room], but we were always one big group for most of it. We went go-karting, I wasn’t the best, but didn’t do too bad. Tom Pidcock won: he’s light and I didn’t have the acceleration he had.

CN: Did you hear about where you’ll be racing and your 2023 programme?

JT: Not yet. I think there’ll be a chat about that soon.

CN: You went to Geraint Thomas's Cardiff victory celebration after his 2018 Tour de France win; now you’ll be racing with him. Was the camp the first time you’d met? 

JT: It was. We have a connection anyway being Welsh which was kind of an icebreaker. It went well and everyone’s so nice. I felt a bit of an outsider before, thinking pros are really scary, but they're just normal people, aren’t they? Only really good at their job.

CN: Why have you decided to base yourself in Andorra?

JT: They have a bunch of riders there and a little bit of a service course. It’s just perfect, there are a lot of climbs and it’s really pretty too. It’s a place where my girlfriend and I can be happy training.

CN: How’s your cooking?

JT: Not the best. Basic, but I’m not going to get food poisoning. I like a stir fry and it’s easy, everything in a pan and rice.

CN: How did you get into cycling?

JT: I was six years old when I first raced. My dad always cycled and my brother [Finlay, who is 16] does too, so it was quite hard not to get into it. I was lucky to start so young so I could get a fair bit of experience before moving into the pros. 

CN: World Championship success this year was a turning point. Was there a race before that which made you realise you could be a pro?

JT: No, not really. I didn’t want to feel that way because I didn’t want to take my foot off the gas. Worlds helped. Last year’s silver [TT] medal gave me some confidence for this year too.

CN: What are your reflections on that Worlds victory, the race itself and the aftermath?

JT: Mainly, it was distracting myself so I didn't watch any of it and see anyone's time. I didn't look at the wind, I just knew what it was doing at my start time as it wouldn’t change the way I rode it. One of the main memories was blasting the music down the pit lane, as our camper van had an outdoor speaker. Then afterwards, it was just a relief. It felt like a lot of effort: we knew that we could do it and I’d been targeting it all year, even after finishing second 12 months before as a first-year junior.

CN: Where’s your rainbow jersey?

JT: It’s at my mum’s house. We have a curtain rail with all the jerseys we’ve won, even from under-10s and the Isle of Man Youth Tour. There are maybe 30 belonging to my brother, and close to 40 of mine. I’ve got a couple of European championship ones, six or seven British ones and now the rainbow.

CN: So they only give you one?

JT: I think you can get more, but I kind of like just having the one. I can’t race in it anyway and it’s special. And you know which one it is – the stinky one.

CN: 2022 is the last season junior gearing [meaning racing with a 52x14] is in place, as the UCI has scrapped that restriction for next year. What are your thoughts on that rule?

JT: Part of me thinks it's good because with juniors, there’s a big difference in development and people. Bigger guys like me would suit the bigger gears, but if you’re slightly less developed, they'd give us too much of an advantage, maybe.

But also, there were a few times I thought it was a bit dangerous. The bikes and all the aero and kit have gone so far now, we’re just going too fast for it. In the Worlds, I think I was doing 115, 110 rpm. There were times it was just crazy. To be honest, even junior training plans have kind of outgrown the gears a bit. It was getting a bit too small.

CN: In terms of your track aspirations, what are your hopes for the next few years and how are INEOS going to support that?

JT: 100 per cent keep it going because it helps with the road. It’s all race craft, you have racing, leg speed and endurance because although it’s not as long as a road race, it’s a 40-minute sprint. INEOS will help so much with that, they’ll come to the track racing. We did wind tunnel testing in training and how they work it into the programme will probably be amazing.

CN: So you could be going for the 2024 Olympics, possibly?

JT: Yeah, hopefully. Maybe team pursuit, maybe the bunch stuff. We’ll see how it all works.

CN: Tell us about growing up in Aberaeron in western Wales.

JT: There’s not much there, it’s quite quiet. In training, it’s really nice, all the way along the coast so you have the sea and the beaches, then you go inland and it’s really hilly. Pretty perfect, really. I know it rains a lot, but it’s not too bad.

CN: I feel for your parents driving you to British youth and junior races – there aren’t many nearby.

JT: We did a few cyclocross races in Scotland, they were quite bad. Sometimes we split it up over more than a day. But we have a camper-van, you kind of need it where we live. Even Newport track is two and a half hours away. When I go to Manchester for the junior Olympic Development Programme camps, it’s maybe three and a half.

CN: How would you describe yourself as a rider?

JT: Strong but needs development. I’m focusing on the Classics and TT, for now.

CN: What are the races you’d love to win as a pro?

JT: Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders and Worlds TT would be the top three. Strade is classy. It needs to be a Monument, 100 per cent, it's really prestigious and it's always last man standing.

CN: Do you have someone in cycling who you admired growing up?

JT: There’s multiple. I just like the classy bike riders. Wiggins always had a really smooth style, and there’s Cav, who’s basically unbeatable. Then you have Matej Mohorič recently, the way he rides and with his dropper post. He’s just so smooth, so many rpms and the whole body doesn't move.

CN: What are you expecting to be the big differences between junior racing and WorldTour?

JT: Straight away, I’ll just be a helper. And we all get our freedom as well so if I have the opportunity, I’ll take it. For the first few years, I’ll get as much experience as I can and then we go from there. Well, we don’t know where we go from there, really – hopefully it goes on.