"I rode in the red for a very long time" - Tom Pidcock goes to the absolute limit to win on debut cyclocross weekend

Tom Pidcock made his debut in this cyclocross season yesterday in Herentals, where he rode from the back to front into second place. He used the same strategy today in Namur but leaves with a World Cup victory in his pocket in the difficult conditions.

"It wasn't very easy, but I can be happy with this victory. I learned a lot from the last time I rode here. It is clear that it is mainly about the very last laps. If you start here too quickly, you will make a lot of mistakes in the end. So for me the main thing was that I had to wait," the Briton said in a post-race interview. The amount of climbing and muddy conditions makes for a race of attrition, where gaps are created from the start and then riders have to withstand the pace for a whole hour - with tricky descents in the mix, making it hard to recover even when going down.

Pidcock had a poor start but paced himself and eventually made his way to the front spots on the opening laps. A mechanical - and apparent puncture - slowed down his chase, but as the race was blown to bits he once again set off in chase of of Pim Ronhaar. "At a certain point I decided to run away. Unfortunately I had a puncture shortly afterwards, so I had to try again. I've never really been sure of victory."

However the Briton was a level above the rest today and despite the adversity, made it back to the Dutchman close to the end and put in a dig that could not be matched. Pidcock took his first win of the winter and in one of the most prestigious tracks. Over the coming weeks he'll have more opportunities, but also the presence of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert. "...I rode in the red for a very long time. Really can't complain. It's a great start."