UCI Cycling World Championships 2023: Olympic mountain bike champion Tom Pidcock captures world title

Olympic champion Tom Pidcock took victory in the mountain bike cross-country Olympic (XCO) race at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Scotland's Glentress Forest on Saturday (12 August).

Pidcock made his move on the sixth of nine 3.5km laps, moving clear of 10-time world champion Nino Schurter and South Africa's Alan Hatherly.

The 23-year-old won by 19 seconds from New Zealand's Samuel Gaze who raced like a man possessed to pass Schurter and Hatherley before running out of road to reel in the Briton.

Swiss legend Schurter had to settle for bronze having tried manfully to stay with Pidcock as he launched his decisive attack.

Pidcock battled his way to the front from 33rd on the grid and despite some technical problems at the vital time.

He said afterwards, "It is a massive relief for me. As soon as I attacked, I think my rear mech came loose and my gears were jumping all over the place. I didn't know whether to stop and tighten it up, I thought my race could be over at any point.

“I couldn't go proper because I didn't want to put them under too much stress. That was a stressful last two laps."

Pidcock said it was tough to fight his way to the front after a frenetic pace over the first few laps.

"The first five laps were super-fast. It was tough to come back from where I was. It was a super hard race but, after last year, I knew these races are another level to the World Cups."

Newly-crowned road race world champion Mathieu van der Poel’s attempt at a historic double came to a premature end as he crashed near the start and lost his front wheel.

Things also failed to turn out as hoped for Slovakia's three-time road world champion Peter Sagan who finished down in 63rd, some seven minutes behind Pidcock.

The 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships also awarded two Paris 2024 quotas for riders who have not yet secured a quota place through the UCI Mountain Bike Olympic Qualification ranking or the 2023 Continental Championships.

Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) is limited to a single spot during the event, and NOCs that have qualified through the elite race are ineligible to secure qualification through the under-23 race.

As NOCs have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.

Read more about the qualification system here.

Results - Men Elite Cross-country Olympic - 2023 UCI Road World Championships

1. Tom Pidcock (GBR) 1:22.09
2. Samuel Gaze (NZL) +0:19
3. Nino Schurter (SUI) +0.34
4. Victor Koretzky (FRA) +0:43
5. Vlad Dascalu (ROU) +0:54
6. Alan Hatherly (RSA) +1:07
7. Luca Braidot (ITA) +1:41
8. Lars Forster (SUI) +1:45
9. Luca Schwarzbauer (GER) +1:52
10. Anton Cooper (NZL) +1:53

Find full results here.