'For Fin' - Tom Pidcock dedicates mountain bike world title to Fin Tarling
Yorkshire great Tom Pidcock won the mountain bike cross-country world title for a second time on Sunday - and immediately dedicated his victory to Fin Tarling.
British cyclist Tarling, 19, died during the Volta a Portugal earlier this month after a high-speed collision with a van which had strayed onto the closed road.
Just days later his brother Josh started the Vuelta a Espana.
The brothers were not far from the thoughts of Pidcock as he crossed the line in Italy.
“It was a hard road after the Tour de France to be honest,” said 27-year-old Pidcock from Leeds.
“I want to dedicate this win to Fin Tarling and to Josh Tarling - seeing him start the Vuelta was pretty incredible, so I want to dedicate it to him and his family.”
Pidcock’s victory re-established him as the pre-eminent mountain biker of his generation.
This was his second world title to go with his first in Glasgow in 2023. He has also won gold at the last two Olympics in Tokyo and Paris.
As he crossed the line he did his trademark hoisting of the bike above his head.
“I crashed pretty badly in practice on Friday and my back was hurting from the first lap,” said Pidcock.
“The last two laps I just had to push and stretch that gap before a final sprint. That was a pretty hard race.”