That is not to say there cannot be some big moments for British riders on the road this year.
Josh Tarling is one of Ineos’ most exciting prospects, having won the British and European time trial championships in his first year of World Tour competition in 2023.
He sees the scrutiny of being in a top team with high expectations to regain its status at the top as motivation.
“It’s exciting. I can be a part of the next time [Ineos] win the Tour. We’re in a good place now; there’s loads of young riders, we’re all performing, all good friends. All the building blocks are there.”
Tarling turned 20 last week, and is already excelling in the discipline against the clock for which former British Tour winners Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins were among the sport’s greatest.
No one is saying Tarling will win the Tour just yet, but Ineos have always blooded their champions gently and without expectation – including 2018 winner Geraint Thomas, another time trial specialist.
And 2024 will see the return of another former Ineos Grand Tour winner, Tao Geoghegan Hart.
His brilliant 2020 Giro d’Italia victory often feels overshadowed by the Covid crisis, and his many subsequent injuries.
But the 28-year-old now heads up the harlequin-styled American Lidl-Trek team as one of their brightest prospects for success at the Tour.
Pogacar himself must surely have a less-demanding programme this year after proclaiming he was “dead” during last year’s Tour capitulation.
Many in the peloton feel the balance between race fitness and recuperation is the hardest to strike in the modern era.
Maybe riders, trainers and team bosses alike should ask Cavendish for some advice – at 38 he is still winning and seems to know better than anyone.
Source link
