Tom Pidcock’s stellar 2017 ends on a high as he seals Under-23 Cyclo-cross World Cup title

Tom Pidcock’s stellar 2017 has ended on a high with the youngster from Yorkshire sealing the overall title in the 2017/18 Under-23 Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup with two rounds to spare.

At Zolder in Belgium today, the 18-year-old rode away on the last lap with home rider Eli Iserbyt and outsprinted the Belgian to the line.

That gives him four victories in five races, with just two rounds to go, both held in late January.

Since the standings are calculated on each rider’s top four results, Pidcock has a perfect record that none of his rivals will now be able to match.

Today’s victory caps a memorable 2017 for the youngster from Yorkshire, a year in which he confirmed his talent across three disciplines.

In January, he became world junior cyclo-cross champion in Luxembourg, on a day when Great Britain swept the podium.

> Video: GB junior men sweep podium at Cyclo-cross World Championships

He followed that up in April by becoming just the third British rider – the others were Geraint Thomas in 2004 and Andy Fenn in 2008 – to win Paris-Roubaix Juniors, catching the break on the Carrefour de l’Arbre then riding away to victory.

> Tom Pidcock becomes third GB winner of Paris-Roubaix Juniors

In Bergen, Norway in September, he won his second rainbow jersey of year, this one coming against the clock as he took the gold medal in the junior time trial at the road world championships.

> Tom Pidcock puts his World Championship-winning time trial ride on Strava (+ video highlights)

Other highlights of the year for Pidcock include becoming the first guest rider to win a round of the Tour Series when he triumphed in Durham in May.

Two months later in Sheffield, he once again saw off the cream of Britain’s crit racing scene as he won the National Circuit Race Championship at the age of just 17.

In June, he revealed that he had signed a two-year deal with the Belgium-based Telenet Fidea Lions team and made his elite cyclo-cross debut with them at the Polderscross Brico Cross race, securing a top 10 finish behind behind this season’s dominant rider, the former world champion Mathieu van der Poel.

Its worth noting that the Dutch rider, as well as reigning cyclo-cross world champion Wout Van Aert of Belgium, also shot to prominence in the discipline at a young age.

In 2015, van der Poel won the elite race at the cyclo-cross world championships shortly after his 20th birthday, while van Aert was aged 21 when he succeeded his rival in the rainbow jersey 12 months later, successfully defending his title earlier this year.