Josh Tarling just missed out on the medals in the Paris Olympics time trial

Paris (AFP) - British rider Josh Tarling won a 12.2km time trial on stage two of the UAE Tour on Tuesday to snatch the overall lead in the seven-day race, while Tadej Pogacar was third on the day.

The powerfully built 21-year-old Ineos rider, who came fourth in the Paris Olympics time trial last year despite a nasty fall, completed the course at an average speed of over 56km/h.

“I missed some big chances last year so I needed this,” he said.

The route Tuesday suited his 6ft 4in (1.94m) frame as it was flat and featured relatively few corners.

He finished 13sec ahead of Swiss rider Steffan Bissegger and 18sec ahead of Tour de France and Giro d’Italia champion Pogacar to take the overall leader’s red jersey from Italian sprinter Jonathan Milan.

Milan was one of the riders to set off late and was adversely affected by high winds that picked up near the close of racing.

Pogacar said he had anticipated such a turn of events.

“It was a good time trial, a first all-out effort of the year and I am happy with both the speed and the legs. It was always going to be tough to compete against Tarling and Bissegger because they really fly on this kind of parcours,” he said.

Tarling may struggle on stage three on Wednesday which is a 181km run through the desert from the UAE’s most northern city Ras al Khaimah to a hilltop finish at Jebel Jais mountain.

With a climb of 20km with a five percent average gradient until it hits seven percent in the last 2km, all eyes will be on Pogacar, who is third in the overall standings just 18 seconds behind Tarling. Bissegger is second, 13sec behind the Briton.

“Tomorrow is a very nice stage for me,” said Pogacar.

“I have good memories from Jebel Jais and as I always say, it is a day for a sprint between the climbers,” the 26-year-old Slovenian said.

“There can be surprises, of course, but I am really looking forward to it because it suits me very well.”