Pidcock makes history with first UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup victory

Young cycling star becomes only British man to win elite event at Rucphen.

Tom Pidcock put down his marker for the 2022 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships when he became the first male British rider to win an elite World Cup event in Rucphen on Saturday and then followed up with second place at Namur a day later. Here is all you need to know:

- Pidcock has enjoyed a meteoric rise the last few years after winning silver at the 2020 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships and a brilliant 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medal in mountain bike cross-country as well as finishing sixth in the 2021 UCI Road World Championships road race.

- The Briton spent the off-season strengthening his knees and needs events for the 2022 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Fayetteville where he wants to become champion in all three disciplines.

- He came into the cyclo-cross season declaring that he does not want to settle for third behind his young rivals Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert as they all excel across disciplines, but did end up third behind Belgian Van Aert at the snowy Val di Sole World Cup stop last weekend.

- Even with Van Aert sitting out Rucphen, Pidcock did not have it all his own way on Saturday as he battled to the front by the end of lap four with Belgians Eli Iserbyt and Michael Vanthourenhout joining him.

- The Belgian duo looked to have got the upper hand on the Yorkshire native, however Pidcock dug deep on the finishing straight to power past and become the first Briton to win an elite cyclo-cross World Cup event.

- One day later in Namur (Belgium), Pidcock ended in second as Vanthourenhout got his revenge to cross the line first after he capitalised on a crash that Pidcock suffered while he was in the lead.

- The next round on December 26 sees the riders line up at Dendermonde in Belgium before stops in Hulst (NED) on January 2, Flamanville (FRA) on January 16 and Hoogerheide (NED) on January 23 wrap up the World Cup season ahead of the World Championship finale a week later in the USA.