Josh Tarling, 22, secures emotional podium days after brother Josh, 19, died in horror crash and grandad passed away

JOSH TARLING finished third in the opening stage of the Vuelta a Espana just eight days after tragically losing his brother Finlay. The Welshman, 22, showed immense courage simply to take to the start line, and was rewarded with a podium finish in the 9.4km-long time trial. Josh Tarling had a great start to the Vuelta despite losing his brother less than two weeks ago Credit: Getty He finished third in the opening stage Credit: Getty Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar picked up where he left off just a month ago to claim victory in Monaco, where the three-week race began. Britain’s Ethan Hayter was a mere nine hundredths of a second behind, with Tarling four seconds further back in third. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! Finlay, 19, was killed in a high-speed collision with a vehicle not involved in the race during the Volta a Portugal last week. He was a highly-talented young rider and had finished third in the Under-23 time trial at the British Championships earlier this summer. The Tarling family suffered a second tragedy just days later when it was announced earlier this week that Gerald Tarling – Josh and Finlay’s grandfather – had also passed away. Geraint Thomas, director of racing at Netcompany-INEOS, hailed Josh’s remarkable determination just to be on the start line. He said: “For a start it’s just great to have [Josh] here. “He was really keen to ride and just wanted to get back to the day job so to speak, and find comfort in the process and being around the team and everything being as normal as possible.” Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK Best sport travel offers HERE are our top picks of the best sport travel trips this summer. We have teamed up with some of the UK’s finest travel firms to come up with these offers. 🏎️ SEE the Italian Grand Prix with tickets, flights and 5 nights in a hotel for just £789pp. – – MORE DETAILS HERE 🏇 TREAT yourself to a trip to York Ebor with £20 off hospitality – – MORE DETAILS HERE 🎯 WATCH the world’s finest darts players go head to head at Butlin’s Minehead at the PDC Championship Finals — MORE DETAILS HERE * If you click on a link we will earn affiliate revenue. Thomas, winner of the 2018 Tour de France, added: “It’s been unimaginable what he’s gone through the last week, so to put in a performance like that at the end of the week he’s had is fantastic. “It shows the class of him as an athlete and a person. I couldn’t be prouder.” Comment now