UAE Tour: Josh Tarling wins stage 2 time trial

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Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) came out on top in the stage 2 time trial at the UAE Tour. The 21-year-old sped through the 12.2km flat course at an average speed of 56.671kph to claim his first victory of the 2025 season and with it the leader's jersey.

Tarling was fastest at the day's single intermediate checkpoint and at the finish, setting a time of 12:55 at the line. He beat Stefan Bissegger (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) into second place by 13 seconds, while Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) rounded out the podium in third place at 18 seconds down.

Race leader and stage 1 winner Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) was the last man home. The Italian finished 49th at the finish line, 1:13 down, to hand over the red jersey to Tarling. 

"From the end of last year, I had a bit of bad luck and kept coming into TTs with Remco and so, yeah, I needed this. I'm super happy," Tarling said after the finish.

"I think over the end of the winter we went to Teide with the team and with Kwiato yesterday [winning the Clásica Jaén], we have a super-good mindset. He got the ball rolling for us and I was trying to be confident.

"It was really windy. The first part was really a headwind and then there was a long crosswind section. The first part was the hardest and then we got a bit of respite with the corners towards the end, so it was kind of two halves.

"Hopefully I get a bit of confidence back now, and I'm excited for the rest."

Tarling's victory sees him take over the top of the general classification heading into stage 3's summit finish at Jebel Jais.

He now leads Bissegger by 13 seconds and Pogačar, the race favourite, by 18 seconds. Tarling also leads the points and youth classifications, while Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) remains in the black jersey as sprints leader.

Earlier in the day, Iván Romeo (Movistar) had been the early pacesetter on Al Hudayriyat Island, setting a time of 13:21 to go quickest among the very first starters. His time would be good for seventh after all was said and done.

Another early starter was Pogačar. The Slovenian was the 13th man down the start ramp and bettered Romeo's time to go top of the standings. His 55.385kph run saw him go eight seconds faster, a time that would hold until Bissegger went out 12 riders later.

Tarling was another early starter among the 139 riders in the UAE peloton. He was the 31st man to take on the course, and with it set the only time of the day under 13 minutes. Of course, his time wouldn't be beaten, with few top-tier TT specialists left to run.

Other riders did manage to put up good times, though. Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) set a time of 13:22 just before Tarling came home, with the Spaniard's time leaving him in sixth for the day.

Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was another solid performer. He was fourth at the finish with a time of 13:16 and he'll go into the third stage 21 seconds down on Tarling.

Max Walscheid (Jayco-AlUla) in fifth with a 13:19, Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) in eighth with a 13:34, Florian Vermeersch (UAE Emirates-XRG) in ninth with a 13:34, and Finn Fisher-Black (UAE Emirates-XRG) in 10th with a 13:35 rounded out the top-10 finishers.

Several GC names to look out for this week stayed in touch just outside the top finishers. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) finished 12th with a time of 13:37, while Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) came home a second later in 14th, reigning champion Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto) took 17th with a 13:41, while Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) was 26th at 13:46.

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