Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) admitted that overdoing the opening phase of the stage 2 time trial at the UAE Tour on Hudayriyat Island prevented him from repeating his victory from a season earlier.
Falling short of Remco Evenepoel's winning time by six seconds, the Welshman detailed how a slight change in wind direction from his recon to his race effort meant that his pacing wasn't perfectly on plan throughout the 12.2km.
But he was still satisfied with what was his first time trial of the 2026 season and second race day, with only the three-time and current time trial world champion able to beat him in Abu Dhabi.
"It was good, it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but I did well," Tarling told Cyclingnews after cooling down at the team van.
"I overdid the first bit, I think anyway, because the first straight was dead headwind, and then when you went left at the first kink, during the recon, it was more cross and now it was more cross-head, so I went a bit too over-under.
"But I think I gained some time in the corners, and I'm pretty happy I got everything out."
Tarling's time was 14 seconds slower than what he managed when he won in 2025, but while he admitted there were some small mistakes, he still doesn't think Evenepoel's time was necessarily reachable on the day.
"I think if he did it again, he'd improve, and if I did it again, I'd improve, so I think that's where we're at," added Tarling. "I've got a couple of things to tidy up, but all in all, pretty good."
Asked if this is just the reality of facing Evenepoel against the clock at the moment, that he is almost unbeatable, Tarling noted that while that isn't the case, everything has to fall right into place if he is to be bested.
"No, no, he's beatable, you've just got to put everything together," said Tarling. "At the minute, he's just got more things right, so I just need to get everything right on my side and tidy up."
Evenepoel may have five time trial wins ahead of Tarling, but the Brit has proved previously that he has the capacity and skill to beat the imperious Belgian, taking 13 seconds out of him at the Chrono des Nations in 2023.
Tarling, still only 22, will desperately want to better that head-to-head record as he continues further in his career and pursues becoming the best TT rider in the world, but he knows there's work to be done yet.
