Tom Pidcock returned to Nové Město na Moravě and did what he always does there: he won.
The legendary British rider left the elite men’s field behind early on. He led for the rest of the race, eventually claiming his fifth career XCO victory at the iconic Czech venue. If you check out his MTB stats, they’re unbelievable: it’s his 12th podium in 13 career XCO starts
France’s Luca Martin refused to let Pidcock relax though. Martin repeatedly clawed some time back, and in lap six he was only five seconds behind. he eventually took second place, 18 seconds behind Pidcock.
Filippo Colombo took the final spot on the podium.
Pidcock pushed all race
Pidcock admitted afterward that the race was harder than he made it look.
“That was the hardest one I’ve done,” he said. “I didn’t make it easy for myself.”
The Brit said he probably pushed too hard early before Martin briefly moved ahead during the opening laps.
“When Luca went in front, I knew that was the point,” Pidcock said. “Everyone was kind of showing themselves a little bit and I thought I would test the water.”
But Nové Město’s rough descents and constantly changing conditions made it difficult to fully relax.
“Luca was pushing me all the way,” he said. “I had to kick again a few times. Not easy.”
Pidcock also admitted he rode cautiously on the descents while trying to avoid punctures as riders across the field shredded tires throughout the race.
“I was losing so much time on the descents,” he said. “I really wanted to make sure I didn’t have any punctures or anything.”
The victory came despite Pidcock saying he still does not feel completely dialled on the mountain bike after focusing heavily on road racing.
“My fitness is good,” he said. “But when I haven’t done any races, I need to be a bit more cautious.”
Pidcock also hinted he could race more mountain bike World Cups later this season, including a possible appearance in North America before the road world championships in Canada.
Martin nearly closes the gap
Martin might not have won, but the young French rider delivered arguably the ride of the day. The Cannondale Factory Racing chased Pidcock with everything he had.
“I’m here for the win,” Martin said. “I don’t care who was on the front. I just wanted to smash the race. In the middle of the race I had 40 minutes and I felt dead,” he said. “And I’m like, ‘Come on boy, we go.’”
He kept charging.
“Every time it was a small downhill, it was so nice,” he said. “I try to enjoy it because I like to ride my bike.”
Colombo survives chaos for third
Colombo also had a strong race.
“The first two were just a level above us,” Colombo said. “But we managed our race.”
The podium also marked a breakthrough result for Colombo at a venue where he has historically struggled.
“I love this place,” he said. “But somehow I could never perform so well here in cross-country. Today finally pieces came together.”
Woods leads Canadians
For the Canadians, Carter Woods put in the top performance of the day with an impressive 17th-place finish in the massive field of more than 100 starters.
Gunnar Holmgren finished 48th, while Tyler Orschel crossed the line in 52nd.
Logan Sadesky was 54th, Cole Punchard finished 64th and Owen Clark ended the day 73rd.
Elite men XCO – Nové Město top 10
Tom Pidcock (Great Britain) – 1:18:52
Luca Martin (France) – +18
Filippo Colombo (Switzerland) – +1:04
Martin Vidaurre Kossmann (Chile) – +1:19
Fabio Püntener (Switzerland) – +1:20
Adrien Boichis (France) – +1:31
Dario Lillo (Switzerland) – +2:21
Maximilian Foidl (Austria) – +2:35
Juri Zanotti (Italy) – +2:55
Mathis Guay (France) – +2:58