Tom Pidcock claims junior time-trial crown

Pidcock’s cyclocross background appeared to give him an edge as his excellent bike handling helped him tame a challenging course.

The 18-year-old put 35 seconds into virtual leader Sebastian Berwick with a time of 28:02.15 but had to wait on the result of home favourite Andreas Leknessund.

Leknessund, who finished 23rd in the 2016 race, led through the first two time checks over the 21.1km course but faded having over exerted himself on the steep Birkelundsbakken climb to finish some 32 seconds shy of the Brit's time.

Antonio Puppio of Italy finished second with Poland's Filip Maciejuk in third.

“I feel very normal at the moment. Hopefully I’ll feel like I have won another world title later. I need to enjoy it later but I am pretty pleased with that,” Pidcock told British Cycling after the race.

“I was just riding flat out and I knew I was leading but I knew there were some fast riders behind me.”