Tom Pidcock: Leeds cyclist storms to mountain bike gold at European Championships despite early crash
The Olympic mountain bike champion added the European title to his rapidly-growing collection after soaring to a stunning Stage 12 triumph at the Tour de France last month.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe Leeds star, 23, competes in road, mountain and cyclo-cross events and kicked his year off by winning Cyclo-cross World Championship gold in Arkansas.
The mountain and road events are next on his jam-packed calendar and Pidcock says the escapism of his favourite discipline this week can help fire him to a treble.
Pidcock, who beat Denmark's Sebastian Fini Carstensen and Swiss star Filippo Colombo to gold, said: “Mountain biking is what I enjoy doing and gives me a mental break from the road.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“As much as I enjoy the road, it’s much more high-pressured and a more high-performance environment.
“This gets me away and means I enjoy riding my bike – and that’s one of the big reasons I do mountain bike.
“It’s a good nice fun atmosphere – it’s more of a relaxed sport than road racing.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“I know that I can still just drop into mountain bike and still be able to win if I prepare properly.
“My three biggest goals this year were the three World Championships.
“The hardest one to win is the first one – there are still a couple more to go so I'm not finished yet."
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdPidcock recovered from an early crash on Friday’s 34.9km route to plough through the field and claim a dominant victory by 11 seconds.
He now travels to France for the Mountain Bike World Championships next week bidding to claim the second world title of his already remarkable career.
The Yorkshire star catapulted himself onto the scene by becoming the first British cyclist to win a mountain bike Olympic medal in Tokyo before his 2022 cyclo-cross world title cemented his status as one of the sport’s hottest prospects.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdPidcock announced himself on the road with a stunning solo Tour de France victory on the Alpe d'Huez and now also looks set to be a key contender when he turns his attention to September’s Road World Championships in Australia.
He added: "It was a pretty hard race today – crashing on the first corner wasn’t ideal and riding out front by myself makes it all that bit harder.
“I didn’t make it easy for myself, but I’m quite used to coming from behind as I’m not that fast at starting in general.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“The most important thing today was giving myself a bit of a kicking and also confidence for next week.”
The multi-sport European Championships Munich 2022, featuring Athletics, Beach Volleyball, Canoe Sprint, Cycling, Gymnastics, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Rowing, Sport Climbing, takes place 11th-21st August on the 50th anniversary of the Olympics Games in the German city. Watch daily live coverage across BBC One, Two, Red Button, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website.