No time trial bikes, no time gaps counting for GC despite being a stage race and the risk until early afternoon that the opening stage of O Gran Camiño would be cancelled completely. Stage 1 of O Gran Camiño was hardly the most normal of individual time trials, and winner Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) was anything but a surprise.
The current European and British Time Trial Champion was widely tipped to be one of the most serious challengers to Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike) on the 14.8-kilometre A Coruña course, where organisers decided that the extremely windy conditions meant the overall battle was put on ice for a day.
While Vingegaard opted to ease back a little and take no risks - an equally logical decision given the neutralised GC times and tough weather conditions - Tarling went in the opposite direction and went flat out for victory.
Well before Vingegaard had crossed the line at the foot of the Torre de Hercules lighthouse, it was clear that the 20-year-old Briton’s 42-second advantage on his closest rival, Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost), would be enough to net him the win.
Tarling also claimed no less than three of the four classification jerseys on offer - points, overall and best young rider. Although, as he said, the race will be decided in the mountains, “it’ll be nice to race in the leader’s jersey for a day all the same".
The Briton could celebrate, too, continuing his winning streak in the time trials, having won his last of 2023 in the Chrono des Nations and the first of 2024, he told a small group of reporters including Cyclingnews. He also gave a resounding thumbs up to the organisers opting not to count the times for the overall GC.
“It was the right decision, it was really, really windy and at the end of the day, safety’s first, isn’t it? I’ve got a nice new Pinarello bike and it would have been nice to show it off, so that’s a pity, but it was the right decision,” he said referring to all teams using road bikes for stage 1 as an extra security precaution given the risks from gusting winds from Storm Louis blowing across the Atlantic Ocean.
Tarling said he had a couple of wobbles at roundabouts as the wind continued to gust strongly.
“I was running a 60mm front wheel so that catches the wind pretty hard,” said about finishing with an incident-free time trial. The distance, too, was very similar to the typical 10-mile (16km) distance that so many British time trials use, helping him to judge his effort.
“It’s the same sort of time, so it ended up being pretty full with the climb in the first half and the headwind in the second half. It was pretty full gas all the way.”
Rather than the rain in Spain of O Gran Camiño, he could have ridden UAE Tour where there is also a time trial, but as he saw it as “nice to do something new. I don’t get to race in Spain that often and I live in Andorra, so yeah, it was a good choice.”
A win at O Gran Camiño is a great start to his season, but Tarling is looking further head this year.
“My main goals are the Olympics and the Classics after this, but to be honest every race, as I’m so young, is about learning and progressing.”
His upcoming program does not include Opening Weekend, as he's in Galicia, but he will do Paris-Nice, then E3, Gent-Wevelgem, Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
When asked about the unusual situation of leading but not leading the overall in Gran Camiño, with all the riders tied on time, Tarling pointed out, “This race is going to be won in the mountains anyway, so it’s still nice to wear the jersey for a day.”
And as for being the first rider to end Vingegaard's series of straight victories in the Galician race, he replied, “I’m not sure, I think he’s saving it for the mountains. But,” he added with a grin, "I’ll take it, I’ll take it."
