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Great Britain’s Josh Tarling won a surprise time trial bronze at the Cycling World Championships on Friday.
Last year’s junior world champion is still eligible for the Under-23 event but made his debut at elite level over the 47.8km course in Scotland.
And the Welsh rider, 19, was only beaten by Belgian winner Remco Evenepoel and Italy’s Filippo Ganna.
GB mountain biker Charlie Aldridge earlier claimed gold in the men’s Under-23 cross-country Olympic race.
Tarling’s fellow Welshman and Ineos Grenadiers team-mate Geraint Thomas, 37, finished 10th in the time trial on day nine of the championships.
Tarling’s a ‘big boy with a bright future’
Tarling, who signed a three-year contract with Ineos last year and this June became the youngest British time trial champion, went into first place with a time of 56 minutes 7.43 seconds.
Multi-discipline star Wout van Aert, who won silver in Sunday’s road race, failed to match that but 27-year-old Ganna, who retained his individual pursuit title on the track last week, managed to go faster.
Evenepoel then became the first Belgian to win world time trial gold in Stirling, after claiming silver in 2019 and bronze in 2021.
The 23-year-old posted a time of 55:19.23 – 12.28secs faster than Ganna. Tarling was 48.20secs off Evenepoel but more than 30 seconds clear of USA’s Brandon McNulty in fourth.
“He’s a big boy,” Thomas said of Tarling. “He’s got power and this is his forte. It’s unbelievable to see him riding so well so early in his career. He’s got a bright future.”
Tarling is the first teenager on the time trial podium since Evenepoel in Yorkshire in 2019, and the Belgian went on to win the world road race title and Vuelta a Espana last year.
“There are some big names I got to sit next to on the stage today and I wouldn’t mind being like one of them some day,” said Tarling.
“Remco winning is not a surprise. He’s just an animal. I hope to progress in the way he has from such a young age.
“I just tried to do my ride and if I get a medal, I get a medal. I feel like if I think about the medals I’d get too stressed and mess it up so it’s just a good bonus.”
Thomas ‘kind of cracks’ but remains positive for Vuelta
Evenepoel swiftly made up the 80-second gap between his and Geraint Thomas’ start times to overtake the 2018 Tour de France winner.
Thomas came second in the Giro d’Italia in May before missing this year’s Tour and is building towards the Vuelta, which starts on 26 August.
“It was a combo of not having the best day, holding back a bit and Remco flying, and then it kind of cracked me,” he said.
“It’s a shame, I would have liked to have gone well in a home Worlds. It would have been nice to have a better ride, a boost for the confidence.
“But I’m used to having a few ups and downs. I won’t read too much into it. I’ll go back up to altitude tomorrow with the boys and keep pushing.”
Evenepoel added: “It was one of my biggest goals of this season, to win today, and to do it on a tough course, which is maybe not perfect for a guy of my weight, I had a super good day.
“I could ride 10-15 watts above my pacing plan and, after 30 minutes, if you’re still not on the limit and you still don’t feel the legs, you know you’re on one of those days.
“The final climb is really brutal, it really gave an extra knife in the legs, so I’m super proud and super happy that I could hold it.”
More GB success for youngsters Aldridge & Wiggins
Mountain biker Aldridge became British champion in both cross-country and short track earlier this year.
The 22-year-old from Perth is now the Under-23 world champion too after battling it out with Adrien Boichis in the 26km cross-country race at Glentress Forest in the Scottish Borders.
Aldridge broke clear of the Frenchman during the seventh and final lap to win gold in one hour 23 minutes 53 seconds, 13 seconds ahead of Boichis.
“On that last lap, I just went all out,” he said. “I didn’t really believe it until I got on that finish line.”
Also on Friday, Ben Wiggins, 18-year-old son of five-time Olympic champion Sir Bradley, continued the promising start to his career as he won silver in the junior time trial.
Charlie Rolls and Jack Carthy will be going for gold in the men’s trials finals on Saturday, with Rolls having produced the highest score in the 20 inch semi-finals, and Carthy doing the same in the 26 inch semi-final.