By David Williams
Josh Tarling has already switched focus to the men’s road race after suffering Olympic heartbreak in Paris in the time trial.
The young Welsh star showed his ability to move on quickly to his next challenge even though he had been devastated by missing out on a medal due to a puncture at the start of Saturday’s race.
Tarling missed the bronze medal by just 2.16 seconds, with the puncture causing him to lose crucial time and momentum after a bike change.
The Aberaeron youngster, who had been performing excellently in the challenging Parisian conditions, will feel particularly disappointed.
The course’s wet and slick conditions caused numerous crashes in both the men’s and women’s races.
Tarling, a two-time National Time Trial Champion, was a pre-race favorite for a medal. However, the current UCI time trial World Champion, Remco Evenepoel, claimed Olympic gold.
A gutsy, brave and mature race which painfully just ends in a 4th placed finish for Josh Tarling in the men’s time trial
The 20-year-old had to recover from a puncture to claw back time.
You have done everyone proud, Josh!#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/SqXLHy8sdG
— Team GB (@TeamGB) July 27, 2024
After the race, the 20-year-old told TV cameras there had been “a lot of swearing” when he got the flat tire, and he felt “dejected” after his valiant effort failed to secure a podium finish.
Evenepoel completed the race in 36 minutes, 12.6 seconds, finishing 15 seconds ahead of Italian Filippo Ganna and 25 seconds ahead of his compatriot Wout van Aert.
“No idea,” replied Tarling when asked how much time he had lost.
“I think it was hard to get back into the rhythm and settle down and stop thinking after that and everyone else did such a good ride. It would have been hard to catch back up.
“I think everyone who’s got a medal deserves it. I mean, if I wanted it to go my way, I would have gone fast enough after the puncture and still won.”
The next focus is the men’s road race, a 273km loop on Saturday, August 3.
“Switch off tonight and switch back on as soon as we can to the road race to try and forget today,” added Tarling.
Riders faced wet and slippery roads on the out-and-back technical 32.4km course in Paris.
Absolutely heartbreaking for GB’s Josh Tarling #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/PKifoKuVKN
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 27, 2024
The 30th rider out of 34 to leave the start ramp at Les Invalides, Tarling was on a good pace until he had to stop to get a bike change, and then had to contend with the mental pressure and the wet conditions.
“I just hit some bumps and felt the rim and had to change before the corner,” he explained.
“It’s easy to start flapping about and panicking. I think the car did a really good job of keeping me quiet and chilled out and just settled back into it.
“They [the conditions] were tough. I think I couldn’t see a lot with the visor after I stopped, all steamed up, and then it wouldn’t un-steam then, so I had to get rid of that.”
Despite the difficult conditions, there was better news for Great Britain in the women’s race.
Anna Henderson won silver, narrowly beating American Chloe Dygert by less than one second.
It’s a result that will sting. But there’s so much to be proud of for Josh Tarling #Paris2024 #CyclingRoad pic.twitter.com/zr6f1vNo8R
— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) July 27, 2024
Henderson clocked a time of 41 minutes, 10.7 seconds over the 32.4km course through the center of Paris, finishing one minute and 31 seconds behind Australian Grace Brown’s gold medal-winning ride.
Brown had narrowly missed out on a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she finished fourth in the women’s time trial.