it’s time to talk about China | The Breakaway EP32
Tom Pidcock started the 2026 MTB World Championships XCO race from the fifth row of the grid. He finished it as world champion — his second rainbow jersey, won by clawing back through the entire field in Val di Sole, Italy. Jared Haley (East City Cycles) joins us to break down exactly how he did it, and why Mathieu van der Poel’s race went the opposite way. We also cover the Tadej and La Vuelta race shake up, lessons learned the hard way at the Sedgefield 500, preview of go2sea — the seven-day stage race everyone’s talking about. The main talking points are then the China effect and what we need to safeguard in South Africa and a bike preview and MTB advice for the upcoming stage race.