Tearful Tom Pidcock dedicates his world mountain bike title to the Tarling family and reveals that he was suffering after recon crash

Tom Pidcock managed to dominate the Mountain Bike World Championships in impressive fashion on Sunday. The Brit started in the fifth row alongside Mathieu van der Poel, but unlike the Dutchman—who finished 30th—he was able to work his way to the front. Pidcock broke away solo on the sixth lap of eight.

The Brit moved up to eighth place fairly quickly, took a moment to catch his breath, and then made the jump to join the leaders. In the end, Pidcock himself, his compatriot Charlie Aldridge, Chilean Martin Vidaurre, and favorite Adrien Boichis of France were left in the lead. Pidcock pulled away from them one by one and broke down in tears during the flash interview.

"To be honest, I'm at a loss for words. It's been a very long and difficult road to get here, after the Tour de France. I want to dedicate this victory to the Tarling family and to Josh," he said, referring to the British cycling family that lost their son Finlay in an accident during the Tour of Portugal. “Seeing him start the Vuelta like that was truly incredible. So I dedicate these moments of victory to him and his family.”

Next, Pidcock naturally had to shift his focus to the race and the question about it. “I knew this was a course where it was easy to burn yourself out. You really had to ride within your own limits. On top of that, I took a hard fall during training on Friday. My back hurt a lot starting from the first lap, so I simply couldn’t go any faster,” he revealed.

"I'm lucky that the pace I was able to maintain was good enough to reach the lead group. During the last two laps, I gave it my all to open up a gap for the final sprint. It was an incredibly tough race,” said Pidcock, who immediately revealed his plans for 2027 and 2028.

"Next year, I'll be mountain biking less because my focus is on road racing, and then I'll get back on the MTB in preparation for the Olympic Games in LA. But I'll definitely make time to ride in that jersey. "By the way, Charlie Aldridge rode a fantastic race—hats off to him and the entire Cannondale team. They’re doing an excellent job this year," he said, complimenting the runner-up.