Exmouth professional cyclist Will Tidball won a gold medal for Great Britain at the UCI World Cycling Championships in Glasgow on Thursday night.
The 23-year-old former Exeter Aces Cycle Speedway Club racer, was making his World Championship debut and competing in his only race of the week, and kept himself hidden for much of the 60 laps before coming around Dutch rider Roy Eefting-Bloem with half a lap to go.
It was an extraordinary ride and the result was a big surprise for many, but perhaps not for Tidball. “I didn’t have expectations,” Tidball said. “I didn’t really dream of coming away with a medal. I wanted to put it all on the line to win it. With a scratch race, that’s how you’re going to win. “You can’t win it with a half-hearted attack. We went all-in and it paid off.”
If there was a complaint from the riders, it was that the medal ceremonies did not take place in the velodrome itself, but over in a side room away from the crowds.
“That’s the one thing that is missing,” Tidball said. “They should have put that here. It’s probably the most important thing to have in a track centre. Maybe I should win another time.”
