Pidcock claims mountain bike World Cup gold in Albstadt

Olympic champion Tom Pidcock blasted to World Cup gold on his return to mountain bike racing in Albstadt, Germany. The 22-year-old reminded the world of his all-round threat with a dominant ride that clinched a second MTB World Cup win of his career. Ad/> Pidcock used one of two steep climbs on lap three of six to launch the decisive attack.

Giro d'ItaliaOpinion: Cavendish still probably won't go to the Tour, but he's now closer than he was3 HOURS AGO «They set off really fast in the first few laps, really hard,» said the Yorkshireman. «Nino (Schurter) was pushing hard on the descents but the race stayed together and I just thought I would test the water a little bit and see where everyone was really at.» Pidcock sprung clear of a five-strong leading group — featuring 12-time world champion Schurter — building a ten-second advantage on a single climb. The Tokyo hero established a 45-second lead and continued to climb faster than the rest of the field in a strong second half of the race.

Pidcock crossed the line, with his now-customary cheeky wheelie celebration, 20 seconds ahead of Swiss Schurter in silver. «It was hard,» said the Brit. «I haven't ridden my mountain bike so much this year yet, it's a different sort of effort.

»Up those climbs, being able to go deep repeatedly and recover, it wasn't where it was last year at Nove Mesto or the Olympics." Pidcock stunned the MTB World Cup last year in roaring from 11th row on the grid to reach the podium, also in Albstadt. He went on to win gold at Nove Mesto, the first top-level victory for a British rider since 1994, where he returns next week for the third stage of the new World Cup season. Already in 2022, Pidcock has raced a Classics season for Ineos Grenadiers and