Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock wins cross-country World Cup in Andorra

Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock won gold in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup cross-country race in Andorra as fellow Briton Charlie Aldridge clinched bronze.

Double Olympic champion Pidcock started from the fourth row on the grid in Pal Arinsal but quickly moved into the lead group on lap two.

The former world champion then led from the halfway stage after overtaking French champion Luca Martin, whose mechanical fault further widened the gap between the pair.

Pidcock, returning to mountain biking for the first time since he won bronze at last year’s World Championships having focused on the road this season, claimed his eighth World Cup XCO, external win as he crossed the line in one hour, 20 minutes and 30 seconds.

Martin came second, 21 seconds behind Pidcock, with Aldridge, 24, in third.

“It’s super nice to finally win here – kind of a home race – after a few years coming here,” said 25-year-old Pidcock, who lives in Andorra.

“Not an easy place to race, that’s for sure. Racing at this height [Pal Arinsal village sits at 1,550m altitude], it’s not like you can find more oxygen anywhere.

“The lack of experience in the races this year certainly played in my favour. I didn’t puncture, I didn’t have any problems.

“I was most nervous about the start, obviously if I went backwards from the fourth row, I would have been really far back.”

Pidcock is not likely to race in any more Mountain Bike World Cups this year or September’s World Championships, which take place at the same time as the final Grand Tour of the season on the road, the Vuelta a Espana, where he has said he will race for the overall victory.

Great Britain’s former world champion Evie Richards came sixth in the women’s race.