Joshua Tarling powered to a dominant victory in the stage 2 time trial at the UAE Tour, setting a new record speed for the event and becoming the youngest rider to wear the leader’s Red Jersey. The Ineos Grenadiers rider covered the 12.2 km course on Al Hudayriyat Island in 12 minutes 55 seconds, averaging a blistering 56.671 km/h.
The 21-year-old Brit finished 13 seconds ahead of Stefan Bissegger, while pre-race favourite Tadej Pogacar had to settle for third, 18 seconds down. Among the general classification contenders, Pello Bilbao was the closest challenger at 39 seconds behind, followed by Giulio Ciccone (+42”), Carlos Rodriguez (+43”), Alexey Lutsenko (+45”), and defending champion Lennert Van Eetvelt (+46”).
The previous race leader, Jonathan Milan, struggled on the flat, power-focused course and lost the jersey after finishing 1 minute 13 seconds down on Tarling.
Tomorrow’s stage brings the first serious test for the climbers, as the peloton takes on the summit finish at Jebel Jais.
Photo Credit: Getty“I’m not giving up the jersey without a fight” – Tarling
After his victory, Tarling reflected on his performance and the challenges ahead:
“I had a bit of a bumpy end to last season and just needed to regain some confidence. It’s exciting to be here for that. It was a mix of bad luck and competing against guys like Remco [Evenepoel] and [Filippo] Ganna. After the Olympics, I was struggling a bit at La Vuelta, but I did my first altitude training camp at Teide to prepare for today’s time trial.
“I had more of a chance to beat Tadej [Pogacar] on a flat course like this. I used a 68×11 gear, which helped keep the speed up. I’m not going to let the jersey go easy tomorrow—Carlos [Rodriguez] is a better climber than me, and obviously there’s Tadej, but I’ll try to hold on as long as I can. The season looks pretty good this year.”
2025 UAE Tour Stage 2 result
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Main photo credit: Sprint Cycling Agency
