Arizona Tribune - Britain's Tarling beats Pogacar and the clock at UAE Tour

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

"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 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 setting off late and was adversely affected by high winds that picked up near the close of racing.

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 5 percent average gradient until it hits 7 percent in the last 2km on Wednesday, all eyes will be on third-placed superstar Pogacar, who trails Tarling in the overall by 18 seconds.

P.A.Mendoza--AT