A start in a lower row which had him overtake plenty riders, crash accusations from Luca Schwarzbauer and a ride into the podium all condensed into 20 minutes saw Tom Pidcock's return to the MTB World Championships. At the Short Track race, he finished third as he prepares for the XCO event.
“The first laps were pretty brutal. I didn't have a great starting position and my start isn't good at all. So the first two laps were pretty tough,” Pidcock said in a post-race interview. “Once I got to the front it got a little bit better. It's always like that in these races." As a frequent participant on the road and cyclocross, the Briton ends up not racing Mountain Bike much, and although he is the Olympic Champion he frequently gets starts in the lower rows - as is the case with Mathieu van der Poel. However, he had the legs to go through most of the field ahead and ride to third place.
"When positioning towards the descent, things got a bit tactical. I fell back a bit, when I should have been in Sam [Gaze]'s wheel, knowing that he was the favorite for the day. But I'm happy with a medal, to be honest. This isn't really my cup of tea. These guys are a bit more explosive, so I'm happy," he said of the short race.
It was a warm-up perhaps for this Saturday's main event, the XCO World Championships where road World Champion van der Poel will be in the mix, but many others who threaten to hold him off. “Yes, I think it's important to do this. Especially after the Tour de France. Just making those very short efforts is certainly good for Saturday," he concluded.
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