"I thought my race could be over any minute" - Tom Pidcock overcomes mechanical issues to win XCO World Championships

A fifth row start and a mechanical were not enough to prevent Tom Pidcock from taking a huge win today. After winning the Olympic Games in 2021, the INEOS Grenadiers rider is now also the XCO World Champion.

“It is a great relief," the Briton said in a post-race interview. A last-minute UCI rule change saw him jump up a few rows and start in the fifth row. Not ideal, but better than otherwise - even though he was one ahead of runner-up Sam Gaze. Pidcock made his way through the field and halfway through the tough event he made it to the front of the race and planned an attack. However things didn't go as smoothly as he anticipated.

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"When I attacked, my rear derailleur came loose. My chain kept jumping. I didn't know if I should stop or not. I thought my race could be over any minute. I couldn't go all out because I didn't want to put a lot of pressure. So it was stressful last laps," he admitted. Nevertheless the bike held up and he was able to put in the power to distance Nino Schurter and hold off Short Track victor Gaze.

Unlike Mathieu van der Poel who crashed out of the race in the first lap, he made it through the field without any major incident this time around, although he says that it was a big effort to make it through to the front. “The first five laps were really fast, it was really hard to get to the front. Since last year I know that the level at the World Championships is much higher than during World Cups…”

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"I'm pretty mad at myself for making such a stupid mistake" - Mathieu van der Poel on the aftermath of XCO World Championships crash

VIDEO: Mathieu van der Poel crashes out of XCO World Championships and possibly injured

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