Thomas Pidcock (Great Britain) captured the rainbow stripes at the 2019 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Bogense, Denmark. He won solo ahead of Eli Iserbyt (Belgium) and Antoine Benoîts (France) and took the second British gold medal at the Bogense World championships. The 19-year-old elite British champion destroyed the opposition in what was anticipated to become a duel with defending world champion Eli Iserbyt (Belgium).
"I think I was going pretty good. I wasn't nervous but excited yesterday. Today I was so nervous. [...] This is the last jersey available for the season. It feels good. Now I can get the rainbow stripes back on," Pidcock said in the post-race flash interview.
During the opening laps, Iserbyt tried to make the difference as he kept the pace high up front. Behind him, Pidcock was tucked in the wheels in a large group of thirteen riders. The race blew apart when Pidcock suddenly entered the first pit area and switched bikes at the beginning of the third lap. It cost him his spot in front of the group. Iserbyt didn't hesitate and accelerated once more. Kevin Kuhn (Switzerland) and others were unable to hold Iserbyt's wheel and for the first time in the 50-minutes race there was a sole leader.
When hitting the fourth of eight laps, Pidcock hit the front in the chase group that trailed leader Iserbyt by six seconds. The decisive moment came when the riders hammered through a long crosswind section along the seafront.
Pidcock stood on the pedals and blew a struggling Jakob Dorigoni (Italy) off his wheel. He continued his efforts and went up and over a baffled Iserbyt.
In the following technical section with power climbs, Pidcock opened up the gap. A few minutes later, Pidcock hit the fifth lap while enjoying a lead of twenty seconds over a chase group with Iserbyt, Dorigoni, Benoîts and Loris Rouiller (Switzerland). The world title seemed in the pocket for Pidcock and in the closing laps he controlled his lead and cruised to his first world title in the Under-23 category.
"I had a bit problems with my gears so I changed bikes. But all was going well and it all went alright. I figured out from the races that when in the wheels I just make mistakes so I'd better be in the front so I thought to go to the front now. I really like this course actually. We came here expecting it to be cold and snowy. It was muddy. It was still good cross. I like it," Pidcock said.
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In the battle for the remaining podium spots, Iserbyt repeatedly accelerated but mistakes often cost him his bonus. During the penultimate lap, Iserbyt was finally alone and headed for silver. A little later Antoine Benoîts managed to drop Dorigoni and last year's runner-up Tomas Kopecky (Czech Republic) to grab the final podium spot.
