Tom Pidcock storms to Cross-country gold on home soil after superlative ride, Mathieu van der Poel crashes out

Britain’s Tom Pidcock stormed to Cross-country MTB gold on home soil after a superlative ride at the Cycling World Championships, as his rival Mathieu van der Poel crashed out.

Pidcock judged his progression through the crowded field to perfection as he backed up his bronze from the short track event earlier in the Glasgow championships.

Pidcock hit the front on the sixth lap ahead of Nino Schurter, and he then distanced the Swiss to leave victory in sight.

Fresh from his gold in the short track, New Zealand’s Sam Gaze looked like he might ride up to Pidcock, but the Brit kept the gap at a safe distance and was able to pick up a Yorkshire flag – his county of birth – and unfurl it on his way to the line.

Mathieu Van der Poel slipped on a corner at the end of the first lap and seemed to suffer an injury to his leg.

Van der Poel had been, to some controversy, granted dispensation for a higher grid placing than his MTB world ranking would have ordinarily afforded him. That meant he started on the fifth row – the same as Tom Pidcock.