Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock paid an emotional tribute to Fin Tarling after winning his second cross-country world title at the Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole, Italy.

British cyclist Tarling, 19, died after an accident during the Volta a Portugal earlier this month.

Pidcock, a two-time Olympic champion, said: “I want to dedicate this win to Fin Tarling and Josh [Tarling] – seeing him start the Vuelta was pretty incredible.

“I want to dedicate this to him and his family.”

The 27-year-old, who won mountain bike gold at the Paris Olympics, added to his 2023 world title that he won in Scotland.

Having been a last-minute entrant after finishing ninth in this year’s Tour de France, Pidcock finished 17 seconds clear of Great Britain team-mate Charlie Aldridge, with Canada’s Cole Punchard claiming third.

Pidcock accelerated clear of Aldridge on lap seven of eight, riding clear before embracing the crowd and lifting up his bike at the finish line in a time of one hour 25 minutes and 26 seconds.

“I crashed pretty badly in practice on Friday and my back was hurting from the first lap. The last two laps I just had to push and stretch that gap before a final sprint. That was a pretty hard race,” he added.

Switzerland’s Sina Frei won the women’s cross-country title, with Great Britain’s Evie Richards crossing in sixth place.