Tom Pidcock took cross-country quick observe bronze on his mountain bike on the UCI Cycling World Championships however then needed to defend himself in opposition to accusations of dangerous sportsmanship from German rival Luca Schwarzbauer after a ultimate nook collision.
The reigning Olympic mountain bike champion made a late lunge for the within line on the sharp ultimate bend of the Glentress Forest course and stunned Schwarzbauer because the pair touched, sending the German to the bottom and placing him out of the medals as New Zealand’s Sam Gaze beat Victor Koretzky to gold.
Schwarzbauer then made his emotions clear, claiming the transfer was deliberate on Pidcock’s half.
“Tom crashed me out, he completely rode into me in that corner,” he stated. “I’m super disappointed for sure because a bronze medal would have been pretty safe. He’s Tom Pidcock, but that doesn’t give him the right to do something like that.
“I said a few words to him and said it was a very bad move in my eyes. At first he said, ‘It’s part of the racing,’ but then he realised I had crashed.
“But I think he knew already. When he rides like this I’m going to crash because he was straight into me and he used me as a barrier. Already before the corner actually – he ran full gas into it and I think no mountain biker would do this at all, like a pure mountain biker, the community of us.
“I know he’s Tom Pidcock and he’s a superstar, but this doesn’t give him the right to do that…He’s so aggressive, you can really see he’s the most aggressive rider, no one else rides like this. You can do this but in my eyes it’s not really sportsman (like).”
Pidcock performed down the incident instantly after the race however, informed of Schwarzbauer’s feedback, he informed the PA information company: “What’s that famous saying? If you no longer go for a gap then you’re no longer a racing driver. Of course I did not mean to cause him to crash and I’m sorry for that.”
That incident apart, Pidcock was pleased along with his efficiency in a race the place he got here from effectively down the pack to place himself in rivalry, at one level making up 9 locations in a single lap as he rose from 18th to 3rd.
Although he couldn’t reply when Gaze made a giant transfer on the ultimate lap, Pidcock will take confidence going into Saturday’s cross-country Olympic race, his large goal at these worlds.
“I’m pretty happy,” he stated. “I only did this to prepare for Saturday but this morning I was pretty up for it and it’s nice to have a medal.
“This is not really my sort of race so it’s good for Saturday I think. My legs were not super but come the weekend I think it will be OK.”
Evie Richards then delivered a second bronze for Great Britain within the girls’s race as France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prevot – Pidcock’s Ineos Grenadiers team-mate – efficiently defended her title forward of Puck Pieterse.
Richards, the 2021 cross-country Olympic world champion, admitted the joy of racing at residence performed an element as she put herself on the entrance within the early laps earlier than dropping again, and she or he was then unable to reply to Ferrand-Prevot’s successful assault on the ultimate lap.
“I think it’s always a bit stupid when you go off the front but I always do it, don’t I?” she stated. “I tried to calm down, it’s very easy to get carried away when everyone is cheering your name…
“It’s been a real hard few years since winning the world championships so to be back here is really amazing, and to win a medal is even better.”