Olympic champion Tom Pidcock confirmed for mountain bike world title defence

Tom Pidcock will ride the Mountain Bike World Championships in Andorra, it was confirmed on Tuesday, defending the world title he won in Glasgow last summer. 

After becoming a double Olympic champion in the mountain bike cross-country event in Paris, Pidcock had a brief break from competition but will return to action at the worlds in Andorra next week. 

Taking place between 28 August and 1 September, other events at the competition will include the cross-country short track and downhill disciplines. 

Alongside Pidcock, fellow Olympian Charlie Aldridge will represent Great Britain in the elite men’s cross-country squad. British national cross-country champion Cameron Orr is also set to ride. 

In the under-23 men’s category, Joe Blackmore will be gunning for a world title alongside elite short track national champion Max Greensill. 

Meanwhile, Evie Richards, fifth-place in the Olympic cross-country women’s event in Paris, will look to reclaim the world title she won in 2021. Annie Last and Isla Short will race alongside Richards for GB. Ella Maclean-Howell will be the sole rider in the under-23 female category for the team. 

Last time out in Glasgow, Pidcock overcame mechanical issues with his bike before powering to the world title. His win on the Glentress Forest course near Peebles made him the first male British rider to become the elite cross-country mtb world champion.

Pidcock won gold at the Paris Olympics despite an early puncture which nearly took him out of the running for a medal at Élancourt Hill. He then powered past France’s Victor Koretzky in the closing stages to take the win. 

"The biggest thing is to inspire people, and that's what I love to do. Hopefully I did that today," he said afterwards. 

Pidcock’s road programme for Ineos Grenadiers for the rest of the season is unknown, although his name features on the preliminary start list for both the GP de Montréal and GP de Québec in Canada, and he is thought to be riding the Tour of Britain at the beginning of September.

Pidcock has been linked with a move away from Ineos in recent weeks, which he said had left him "mentally frazzled" at the time of the Olympic road race.