Back of pack to top of podium: Pidcock sensational at super worlds XCO

With a mid-pack start and late race mechanical trouble, Tom Pidcock’s world championships race was far from perfect. But the result was. The multi-talented rider stormed through the field to take the elite men’s XCO title, becoming the first British man to do so.

The race could not have been more dramatic, either. Controversy started in the days leading up to the race, high-profile crashes marred the start loop, and Nino Schurter, Alan Hatherly and short track world champion Sam Gaze all heaped pressure on Pidcock for 1:22 of racing. The Brit shone through it all, soloing to a sensational win for the home crowd.

Through traffic to victory: how the race unfolded

The elite men’s field blasted off the line but only made it to the first corner before many were slowed down by a mid-pack crash as the field crushed in towards the right hand turn. Out front, Martin Blums led briefly before Jordan Sarrou took over.

Before the race made it through the short start loop, it lost one of its stars. Mathieu van der Poel crashed heavily on a loose corner just before the finish line. While the crash didn’t look like much, the Dutch star was slow to get up and did not continue the race.

While van der Poel struggled, Canada’s Gunnar Holmgren had an excellent start. The older brother of new junior women’s world champion, Isabella Holmgren, sat 18th among the elite men after the opening loop.

Further back, Pidcock was making his way through traffic. From a fifth-row start, Pidcock was 33rd going out onto the first lap. By the first split time on the first full lap, the Brit had passed Holmgren and moved into 26th.

While the Brit was working towards the front, Nino Schurter was doing his best to get as far away as possible. The Swiss star passed Sarrou early on the first lap and poured on the pace. Schurter and Alan Hatherly led, then eventually left behind a small group of racers.

Behind, though, Pidcock was flying through the bunch. Cameras caught him passing six or seven riders on one short, steep section of climbing. By the end of the first full lap, he was only 13 seconds behind and quickly joined the tail end of a large front group.

Every climb with room to pass, Pidcock lept forward. He passed three of the front group in one go, then sprinted past another four of the world’s best mountain bikers to sit in fifth before the second lap was over.

Starting the third of eight laps, Pidock formed a front group with Schurter and Hatherly. Behind, Sma Gaze, Victor Koretzky and Vlad Dascalue chased, 20 seconds off the leader’s pace.

Mid-race reset

Perhaps taking a moment to recover from his early effort, Pidcock did not distance Hatherly or Schurter until the later stages of the race. On the sixth lap, his attack up a steep hill distanced Hatherly and, briefly, Schurter. Schurter rejoined, only to be dropped again on the next major climb as Pidcock put six seconds into the Swiss icon on one climb. Behind, Hatherly was being hunted down by Gaze and Koretzky.

With Gaze closing in, eventually passing Schurter, Pidcock stayed steady on the front.

Tom Pidock would cross the line alone, with time to grab a Jersey flag to celebrate his first XCO elite men’s world title. But, after the finish line, revealed the race was closer than it looked on camera.

“It’s a massive relief,” Pidcock said of the win. “My gears were jumping all over the place and I thought my race could be over at any point. I couldn’t go properly because I didn’t want to put it under too much stress. It was a stressful last few laps.”

Sam Gaze stayed ahead of Schurter to claim silver. After his early efforts, Nino Schurter faded slightly to third place.

“I wasn’t making it high, not me,” Pidcock said with a laugh when asked about the blistering pace in the opening laps. “The first five laps were super fast. It was tough to come back from where I was. After last year I knew world champs were another level to world cups.”

Canadians in Scotland

After his strong start, Gunnar Holmgren would finish 42nd, still the fastest Canadian in the elite men’s race. Peter Disera followed in 51st, Sean Fincham 54th and Léandre Bouchard 60th.

Peter Sagan, the other beneficiary of the UCI’s late rule change, would cross the line 63rd in his retirement return to mountain biking.