Renewi Tour: Josh Tarling wins stage 2 time trial and moves into GC lead

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Wellens and Lampaert round out ITT podium and jump to 2-3 in overall

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SLUIS NETHERLANDS AUGUST 24 Joshua Tarling of The United Kingdom And Team INEOS Grenadiers sprints during the 19th Renewi Tour 2023 Stage 2 a 136km individual time trial stage from Sluis to Sluis on August 24 2023 in Sluis Netherlands Photo by Bas CzerwinskiGetty Images
Renewi Tour 2023: Josh Tarling of Ineos Grenadiers wins stage 2 individual time trial across 13.6km to Sluis(Image credit: Bas Czerwinski/Getty Images)


British champion Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) has taken his first WorldTour win, finishing with the fastest time in the stage 2 individual time trial at the Renewi Tour in Sluis.

"It's crazy. I'm so happy. I think we did super good in the the team. I am super supported, and I'm super happy," said Tarling, who has finished no less than third place in every time trial he has started this year, including a victory at the British Championships and a bronze medal at the World Championships.

"I thought I started fast, and then I heard the splits and started panicking, so I tried to get everything out that I could. I think it worked well with the wind and stuff, so it ended up working really good," Tarling said of his pacing strategy during the race.

"I don't know if I was calm; it was panic from about halfway, but it was only a short-ish time trial, and it was about getting everything out. I had to stay above [the pacing plan] to win."

Tarling now leads the overall classification at the Renewi Tour as the race heads into stage 3 from Aalter to Geraardsbergen on Friday.

"We'll see how good we can get, but we have other super talents in the team, so we have a lot of options now."

The second stage at the Renewi Tour was a 13.6km race against the clock in Sluis. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) started the time trial last after winning stage 1 and taking the first leader's jersey.

Lennard Hofstede (Jumbo-Visma) was the first rider off the starting ramp, and a few of the earlier fast finishers included Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek), Luke Plapp (Ineos Grenadiers), Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) and Jos van Emden (Jumbo-Visma), all covering the course with average speeds upwards of 52 kph.

The times continued getting faster, with Wellens setting a best time of 15:19.

However, his time in the hot seat was brief as 19-year-old Tarling stormed through the finish line with a best time of 15:05 and an average speed of 54 kph.

The times behind Tarling re-shuffled throughout the event with podium performances from Belgian riders; Wellens holding onto the second fastest time, then Lampaert with the third fastest time of 15:23,

Other top-10 finishes came from Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) at 15:24, Florian Vermeersch (Lotto-Dstny) at 15:26, and Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-QuickStep) in sixth place at 15:26.

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