Mathis Azzaro strikes down Tom Pidcock in the Short Track of Nove Mesto

The Frenchman Mathis Azzaro surprised Pidcock in the final sprint after the Brit had spent half the race riding in last place before launching a spectacular comeback to the front.

Mathis Azzaro defeats Tom Pidcock in Nové Město after a wild comeback from the Brit in last position

Everyone was watching Tom Pidcock before the start of the XCC in Nové Město, but for much of the race, the Brit seemed to have completely disappeared. While the front group was racing at full speed from the first lap, Pidcock decided to literally stay in last place, an extreme strategy he had used before but which seemed almost impossible to execute on such a fast and explosive Czech circuit.

Pidcock played a completely different race

The start was incredibly fast, and the Frenchmen Luca Martin and Mathis Azzaro tried to impose a very high pace from the first meters. Meanwhile, all the cameras kept focusing on Pidcock, completely boxed in at the back of the group.

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In front, there were exchanges between David List, Mathis Azzaro, Adrien Boichis, Dario Lillo, Jordan Sarrou, Luca Martin, and Charlie Aldridge while the front group remained very compact. The race quickly settled into nine laps, and no one was able to break the main group yet.

The pace was completely frantic, and in the fast sections, the peloton was constantly riding at the limit. But while everyone in front was fighting to maintain their positions, Pidcock seemed to be racing a different race.

The Brit began his comeback on the fifth lap, and the move was wild. He went from 41st to 21st place in just one lap. The acceleration left the commentators and the front group completely surprised.

But the most incredible was yet to come. On the sixth lap, Pidcock launched another even more aggressive change of pace, and in just a few minutes, he was already among the top five.

The final lap was completely agonizing

While all the attention was focused on the Brit's comeback, another name surprised in front. Maximilian Brandl appeared completely dressed in black and even took the lead in the race on the eighth lap.

The bell for the final lap rang with a still very compact group, and the pace shot up again. Charlie Aldridge tried to break the race definitively, immediately followed by Mathis Azzaro. Shortly after, Jordan Sarrou was eliminated from the fight due to a mechanical problem just as the group entered the decisive moment.

Then came the move everyone was waiting for. Tom Pidcock launched a brutal change of pace and took the lead in the race for the first time.

The Brit accelerated again in the final straight, trying to seal the XCC, but Azzaro managed to perfectly hold his wheel. In the final meters, the Frenchman launched the definitive sprint and ended up surpassing Pidcock to secure one of the most important victories of his career.

Top 10 XCC Men Elite – Nové Město 2026

1. Mathis Azzaro (Origine Racing Division) – 21:46
2. Tom Pidcock – +1
3. Dario Lillo (Giant Factory Off-Road Team XC) – +1
4. Martin Vidaurre Kossmann (Specialized Factory Racing) – +2
5. Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing) – +2
6. Luca Martin (Cannondale Factory Racing) – +2
7. Adrien Boichis (Specialized Factory Racing) – +3
8. Maximilian Brandl – +4
9. Riley Amos (Trek-Unbroken XC) – +4
10. Bjorn Riley (SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing Team) – +4

The Nové Město World Cup will continue tomorrow, Sunday, with the elite XCO races. The women's event will start at 12:00 and the men's at 15:00, both in CEST time, with Tom Pidcock looking to extend his historic dominance on the Czech circuit.