Josh Tarling is optimistic about the future of his Ineos Grenadiers team despite their disappointing 2024 campaign, major changes in the team structure and tensions around Tom Pidcock's role as a team leader.
The squad have rung in the changes for 2025 with six riders and a swathe of new staff members joining the team as key backroom members including Steve Cummings, Xabier Artexte, and Dan Bigham head elsewhere.
Ineos Grenadiers finished seventh in the UCI rankings in 2024 but with just 14 wins, during a season which saw third place at the Giro d'Italia their best Grand Tour result.
Speaking at Rouleur Live in London, Tarling admitted that "a lot has changed" at Ineos during the off-season and insisted it was "exciting" to think about the challenge of getting back to the top of the sport.
"It's not broken. It's a team, isn't it? It's not like it's an object," Tarling said, showing his loyalty to the team.
"I re-signed not long ago, and I think to jump ship on a team when it's maybe not where we want to be is like giving up, isn’t it?
"I think that they've changed a load of stuff and there's a load of new people coming in. Everyone's trying; the mentality is different and the coaching's different.
"I think it's more exciting – I don't think we should give up. Things can only go up. It'd be nice to be a part of that in turning it around and just enjoy coming back."
This season, 20-year-old Tarling contributed to the to Ineos success with time trial wins at O Gran Camiño and the British National Championships. He also scored fourth place in the time trials at the Olympic Games and World Championships and is one of the big-name riders for the future.
He said that the Classics would be a major goal for him in 2025 and noted that "with a few changes" the entire team can get back to winning ways.
"I've always enjoyed racing more than the TTs. I really want to concentrate on the Classics. Personally, Paris-Roubaix would be the biggest goal for me," he said.
"I joined a team with all these winners. These races are so hard to win, and you get good luck and bad luck. We've had a rough patch, but we've got all the tools and equipment and riders and there's no reason why next year with a few changes it'll be class."
Tarling dismissed talk of any pressure, external or internal, on the squad, instead framing it as everybody at Ineos 'wanting' to succeed.
The aim is to return among the best teams in the world as quickly as possible.
"There's not a lot of pressure, you know? It's more 'want'. Nobody's pressured to get better because everybody wants to be there and get back to winning," he said.
"No one is looking too far forward, like the Olympics in 2028, everybody is looking at next year – the first race, to win it.
"It's hard to get your head around training for 2028 when you're training for the Classics next year. There's so much going on. Compared to now and the start of next year in Australia, there's so much happening."
