Tom Pidcock claimed a storming victory in the junior men’s time trial at the 2017 World Championships. The British prodigy, who’s national, European, and world champion at junior level in cyclo-cross, completed the rolling 21.1km course in Bergen in a time of 28:02, some 12 seconds quicker than his nearest rival.
Italian Antonio Puppio claimed the silver medal, while Poland’s Filip Maciejuk took bronze, finishing 13 seconds down on Pidcock.
Pidcock, the 60th of 78 starters, flew out of the blocks and was already three seconds up at the early first intermediate checkpoint after 3.6km. His advantage grew by the top of the Birkelundsbakken, the pivotal 1.4km climb that topped out at the 9.6km mark, and moreso on the rolling descent into Bergen. He crossed the line more than half a minute up on the fastest rider to take his place in the hotseat, and it was clear it would take something special to beat him.
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And that nearly materialsed. Many of the strongest riders set off towards the end, and indeed all of the other riders who finished in the top nine started after Pidcock. While Puppo and Maciejuk, along with Germany’s Juri Hollmann and Kazakhstan’s Igor Chzan, rode strong races, it was only the Norwegian Andreas Leknessund who truly looked like he could topple Pidcock, by now slumped casually in the hotseat.
The home rider was a second up on Pidcock at the early split and – somewhat surprisingly, given his larger frame – that lead was in tact atop the Birkelundsbakken. However, he clearly paid for his efforts on the climb as he faded dramatically in the second half of the course, crossing the line more than half a minute down on Pidcock, losing 17 seconds in the last four kilometres alone.
"I knew a podium was a possibility, but I didn't really think I'd take the lead and then hold it all the way to the finish like that," said Pidcock.
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