Tom Pidcock: British rider wins his first elite World Cup mountain bike race
- Published
Pidcock is competing in his first elite mountain bike World Cup season
Great Britain's Tom Pidcock won his first elite World Cup mountain bike race, beating Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel in the cross-country final in Nove Mesto, Croatia.
It is the first World Cup victory for a British man since 1994.
Pidcock, 21, dropped Van der Poel on lap three to win by exactly a minute.
"I think I was born to do mountain bikes. It sounds stupid but it's what I've done since I was little and what I've enjoyed the most," he said.
"Coming here and winning an elite World Cup - at my second attempt but a first attempt with a level playing field [he started on the ninth row in his only other event] - is pretty insane really."
It was revenge for Ineos Grenadiers rider Pidcock after he was beaten into second by Dutchman Van der Poel in Friday's short-track event.
Pidcock, who has also been competing on the road for Ineos this season, now faces a wait to find out if he can race at the Tokyo Olympics, where he would be among the medal favourites.
"I'm certainly in great shape. I'm going to take a break now and build hopefully towards the Olympics. I think I've shown what I can do on a mountain bike I guess," Pidcock added.
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GB's Pidcock wins U23 cross country World Championships title