Pidcock wins second mountain bike world title in Val di Sole — and dedicates it to a fallen friend
Tom Pidcock won his second cross-country mountain bike world title in Val di Sole, Italy, on 30 August 2026, then dedicated the victory to 19-year-old British cyclist Fin Tarling, who died earlier in August after an accident during the Volta a Portugal.
Pidcock crossed the line in one hour 25 minutes 26 seconds, 17 seconds ahead of Great Britain team-mate Charlie Aldridge. Canada's Cole Punchard took bronze. The win adds to Pidcock's first world title, won in Scotland in 2023, and sits alongside his two Olympic gold medals — including mountain bike victory at the Paris Olympics. BBC Sport
The race was far from straightforward. Pidcock crashed badly in practice on Friday and said his back hurt from the first lap. He had entered the championships at the last minute after finishing ninth in this year's Tour de France — the sport's three-week road race — and lining up against a field that included fellow multi-discipline star Mathieu van der Poel and defending champion Alan Hatherly. None of it stopped him.
The decisive move came on lap seven of eight. Pidcock accelerated clear of Aldridge on the climbs of Val di Sole — a venue famous for its steep, root-choked tracks — and never looked back.
Afterwards, the dedication was what he wanted people to hear. Pidcock gave the win to Fin Tarling and Josh Tarling — the latter a British time-trial specialist on the road — and to the Tarling family. Fin Tarling, just 19, had been riding the Volta a Portugal, a professional stage race, when the accident occurred.
Great Britain had a strong championships across the board. Aldridge also took silver in the elite men's short track — a faster, shorter format of cross-country racing — beaten only by France's Adrien Boichis. In the women's events, Evie Richards finished sixth in the cross-country race and was edged into second by Austria's Laura Stigger in the elite women's short track, narrowly missing a second world title of her own. Switzerland's Sina Frei won the women's cross-country title.
There were downhill medals too. Harriet Harnden claimed bronze in the women's downhill; Jordan Williams matched that in the men's. The five-day championships, held from 26 to 30 August, closed with Pidcock's cross-country win as its headline result.
For a rider who balances road racing, mountain biking and cyclocross — the winter discipline of running and riding through mud and barriers — Pidcock's ability to switch from a Tour de France to a world title within weeks remains rare. To do it with bruised ribs and a sore back, and then to channel the moment toward a grieving family, said more than any result sheet could.
What lingers from Val di Sole is not just the rainbow jersey — the world champion's kit — but the way Pidcock chose to wear it: in memory of a teenager who never got to race his own championships.
