Three weeks ago Josh Tarling’s Tour de France appeared over.

A high-speed crash at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes left the Netcompany Ineos rider with a broken collarbone, requiring surgery less than a month before cycling’s biggest race.

Now, just three weeks later, the 22-year-old Welshman will roll down the start ramp in Barcelona for his Tour de France debut.

That should sound extraordinary.

Perhaps the only reason it doesn’t is because professional cycling has recently stretched the boundaries of what seems possible.

Last year, Norway’s Jonas Abrahamsen returned to the Tour just nine days after breaking his collarbone. He underlined that recovery by winning a stage.

Tarling’s comeback may not seem quite as astonishing, but it remains remarkable nonetheless.

Reports suggested the Aberaeron rider was back on his bike just two days after surgery as the race against time to prove his fitness began.

His selection – confirmed by Ineos on Wednesday alongside Thymen Arensman, 2019 winner Egan Bernal, Tobias Foss, Filippo Ganna, Dorian Godon, Michal Kwiatkowski and Kévin Vauquelin – also arrives at an important moment for British cycling.

For much of the past decade, British fans barely had to search for a storyline at the Tour de France.

Chris Froome won four yellow jerseys. Geraint Thomas became the first Welshman to win the race. Mark Cavendish rewrote the record books as the Tour’s greatest-ever stage winner.

That golden generation is now beginning to give way to the next.

Thomas and Cavendish have retired. Froome has yet to make it official but, with a new role in the tech industry and now into his fifth decade, British cycling has inevitably started looking towards the future.

There are still world-class British riders in the peloton. Adam Yates remains among the sport’s elite stage racers, albeit now largely in support of Tadej Pogačar. Oscar Onley, another of Britain’s brightest young talents, will miss the Tour altogether through injury.

It leaves Tarling as arguably the most intriguing British storyline of this year’s race, having already established himself among the world’s elite time triallists.

“I’m just super happy and really looking forward to it,” he told the Ineos website.

“We’ve got a power team so I’m really excited with the team that we have for the TT (time trial) and stages, so we’re going to have a good Tour together.”

His Giro d’Italia stage victory last year confirmed the immense potential many have long predicted.

World Championship titles, Olympic medals and Grand Tour stage victories all appear realistic ambitions.

Standing at 6ft 4in with a powerful build, Tarling is a very different rider to the lightweight climbers who traditionally fight for the Tour de France’s yellow jersey. His greatest strengths lie against the clock and on the sort of powerful terrain where his immense engine can make the difference.

But expectations for Tarling’s first Tour should remain realistic.

For casual sports fans, the Tour de France is defined by yellow jerseys and stage victories.

That is what grabs headlines and captures imaginations. Tarling’s debut is unlikely to.

The opening stage is a team time trial, but the sharp climb into Barcelona means his role will almost certainly be one of sacrifice.

Expect him to use his immense power to drive across the flatter roads before peeling off as the gradients steepen, leaving the team’s climbers and general classification riders to contest the finish.

Nor does the race’s only individual time trial present an obvious opportunity.

Its rolling, climbing profile is likely to favour more complete riders such as Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel rather than pure specialists against the clock.

That means Tarling could complete all three weeks without ever seriously challenging for a stage victory.

That should not be mistaken for disappointment.

This Tour is not about results. It is about proving he belongs, learning the rhythms of cycling’s biggest race and gaining the experience that could shape the next decade of his career.

Next summer the Tour de France returns to Great Britain for the Grand Départ before crossing into Wales on stage three from Welshpool to Cardiff.

If all goes to plan, Tarling will arrive there not as a Tour debutant, but as a rider with three weeks of the sport’s biggest race already behind him.

Three weeks ago, making the Tour de France looked impossible.

Now, after a remarkable recovery, Josh Tarling begins what British cycling hopes will be the first of many appearances in cycling’s biggest race.

Age: 22

Born: Aberaeron, Ceredigion

Team: Netcompany Ineos

Speciality: Time trial

Tour de France: Debut

Grand Tours: Giro d’Italia (2025), Tour de France (2026)

Career highlights:

Tour de France debutant (2026)

Giro d’Italia stage winner (2025)

World Championship elite time trial bronze medallist (2023, aged 19)

European time trial champion

British national time trial champion

What to expect this Tour:

Makes his Tour debut just three weeks after collarbone surgery.

Likely to play a key supporting role in the opening team time trial before the uphill finish into Barcelona.

The race’s only individual time trial is expected to favour all-rounders who combine time-trial ability with climbing.

Primary objective: support Ineos, gain experience and complete his first Tour de France.