LONDON (Reuters) - Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock produced a dominant display as he won men’s mountain bike cross-country gold at the European Championships in Munich.
Olympic champion Pidcock, 23, completed the 34.9km course in one hour 18 minutes nine seconds after moving clear on the fifth lap of the eight-lap race.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider is the first Briton to win the European title.
Denmark’s Sebastian Fini Carstensen claimed silver and Switzerland’s Filippo Colombo took the bronze.
Fellow Briton Cameron Orr, who placed fourth at the Commonwealth Games in B irmingham, crossed the line 12th in 1:19:08.
European glory is the latest notable triumph in the versatile Pidcock’s remarkable start to his professional career.
Having become the first Briton to clinch an Olympic medal in mountain biking with his golden ride aged 21 at Tokyo 2020, he broke further new ground for his nation by winning the Cyclo-cross World Championship in Arkansas, USA, in January.
Then, in perhaps the most emphatic display of his talent to date, the Leeds-born rider became the youngest ever winner on the iconic Alpe d’Huez stage as he took a stunning solo victory at the Tour de France in July.
At the Olympiapark on Friday, it was France’s Joshua Dubau who made the first threatening move at the front of the race during the fourth lap but Pidcock - who had settled in to the lead group after starting 34th on the grid and suffering an early fall - efficiently shut the move down.
The Briton then began to push the pace as the rain began to fall in Munich, moving clear of all but Frenchman Victor Koretzky and Switzerland’s Colombo.
Another surge from Pidcock after the halfway mark proved decisive, with neither of his remaining two rivals able to follow his wheel.
By the end of the fifth lap he had established a 24-second lead - and that remained at 23 seconds with two laps remaining despite a group of 11 - including six Swiss riders - attempting to give chase.
With the gap not coming down, the chasing group were left to battle among themselves in the race for the remaining medals as Pidcock safely completed his final lap before soaking up the applause on the final straight.
In the end, Carstensen edged Colombo to finish 11 seconds after Pidcock - though the gold had long been settled.
On his achievements over the past year, he added: “There are still a couple of world championships to go so I’m not finished yet.”
January’s cyclo-cross win was one of three world titles available this year to Pidcock, an under-23 world champion in cyclo-cross, road and mountain bike events.
The Mountain Bike World Championships start on 24 August in Les Gets, France, before the Road World Championships take place in Wollongong, Australia, in September.