Joshua Tarling sealed the second stage of the UAE Tour, the 12.2 km time trial with start and finish at Al Hudayriyat Island. The 21-year-old British rider from Ineos Grenadiers pedaled in 12'55" at an average speed of 56.671 kmh, beating Swiss rider Stefan Bissegger from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale by 13 seconds and world champion Tadej Pogacar by 18 seconds.

Tarling also conquered the leader's jersey: "It was a challenging stage, we had to deal with the wind, but this result gives me morale to face the season". His seventh victory as a professional, he also set a record average speed in a stage of the UAE Tour.

As for Pogacar, in his first time trial of the year, he finished third as mentioned, pedaling at an average of 55.385 and leaving behind all other general classification contenders. Best Italian of the day, Giulio Ciccone, who finished thirteenth, 42 seconds behind the winner and 24 seconds from the world champion.

FINAL STANDINGS

1. Tarling Joshua (INEOS Grenadiers) in 12:55, average 56.617 kmh
2. Bissegger Stefan (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) + 13
3. Pogacar Tadej (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) + 18
4. Vine Jay (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) + 21
5. Walscheid Max (Team Jayco-AlUla) + 24
6. Castrillo Pablo (Movistar Team) + 27
7. Romeo Iván (Movistar Team) + 28
8. Bilbao Pello (Bahrain Victorious) + 39
9. Vermeersch Florian (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) + 39
10. Fisher-Black Finn (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) + 40