Tom Pidcock wins E-MTB title at UCI MTB Worlds

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Tom Pidcock won the E-MTB event at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Austria on Wednesday, soloing to victory 35 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor in the second year of the event.

The 21-year-old Briton beat Frenchman Jérôme Gilloux into second place, while Denmark's Simon Andreassen took third place, 49 seconds back.

After a slow first lap that put him 55 seconds behind leader Jerome Gilloux (France), Pidcock recorded the fastest laps for each of the remaining four laps, moving up to third by the end of Lap 2, second a lap later, and passing the Frenchman early in the last lap, to eventually win by 35 seconds. 

Pidcock came into the race having won both U23 World Cup XCO races last week. Simon Andreassen (Denmark), winner of an Elite World Cup a week earlier, made a similar surge to take the bronze medal, 14 seconds out of silver.

"The downhill sections were super tricky," said Pidcock, "and it was just a matter of getting down them safely and try not to crash. I tried to make my time on the uphills. This win gives me a lot of confidence [before the U23 XCO on Friday]. Winning here and last week gives me confidence for Friday."

Pidcock has enjoyed a stellar 2020 season, taking silver medal at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Switzerland and winning the U23 Giro d'Italia last month before taking part in the elite men's road race at the Worlds in Imola.

He'll move on from Trinity Racing to WorldTour squad Ineos Grenadiers next season, his signature announced by the team at the end of September.