Josh Tarling leaves INEOS emotional with 'insane' Vuelta ride after brother Finlay's death

Netcompany INEOS watched Joshua Tarling's arrival at the Vuelta a España with immense pride and, undoubtedly, plenty of emotion. The 22-year-old Brit is a somewhat surprising starter at the Spanish Grand Tour after his younger brother Finlay recently died during the Tour of Portugal. By finishing third in the opening time trial of the Vuelta, Tarling managed to produce a performance that was almost unimaginable given everything he has been through.

Tarling himself was the one who wanted to start the Vuelta, which began on Saturday with a time trial of just over nine kilometres through Monaco. According to Head of Racing Geraint Thomas, the young time trial specialist wanted to be back with the team and return to doing normal things, so soon after losing his brother. "Josh is dealing with it in his own way. And, you know, he's a tough guy," the Welshman explained.

Netcompany INEOS decided to stand fully behind Tarling and gave him a place on its Vuelta roster. Yet when he stood on the start ramp in Monaco on Saturday evening, the significance of the moment briefly left everyone silent. Eleven minutes later, Tarling crossed the finish line with the fastest time, and the sense of disbelief was even greater. In the end, only two riders managed to beat his time: Ethan Hayter and stage winner Tadej Pogačar.

"It's great to have him here," Thomas said afterwards on Eurosport. He reiterated just how much Tarling himself had wanted to be at the race. "Josh really wanted to race and get back to the day-to-day, to as much normality as possible. We fully support him in that, although you can't imagine what that kid has been through over the past week."

"To perform like that after a week like this is incredible," the former Tour de France winner added. "It shows his class as an athlete and as a person. I couldn't be prouder. The course suited him because technically he's one of the best. But today was one of the first times he'd really been back on the bike, so to be able to do this is insane."

There was, understandably, no outright celebration within the team, but Thomas could not deny just how much Tarling's presence and performance meant to Netcompany INEOS. "It feels like a win, and now we'll try to support him and keep things as normal as possible. Hopefully it can be a good trip for the boys at the Vuelta."

It was therefore clear that the British squad was not dwelling too much on the substantial time lost by GC leader Oscar Onley. Over just nine kilometres, the Scot conceded 50 seconds to winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Emirates-XRG), making him one of the GC contenders to lose the most time in the opening test. Netcompany INEOS simply wrote: "Great to see @OscarOnley up and running at #LaVuelta26 👌 Safely through the opening TT and ready to take on the stages to come." The result leaves Onley 106th overall, 50 seconds behind Pogačar after Stage 1.