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.

Plus: East City Cycles has a new gravel bike launching this Friday at

9am, timed to drop simultaneously with the rest of the world. Come for

the ride, stay for the coffee.

0:00 — Intro & News Roundup

3:24 — MTB World Championships: Pidcock's Incredible Comeback

09:45 — Tadej Crash & La Vuelta

18:26 — Can Pidcock make World Champ History?

21:04 — Sedgefield 500 recap

30:18 — Gran Fondo Worlds

32:13 — Project 'Reform Cycling'

35:03 — Viewer Bike Spotlight: A UK Project Build

36:24 — Go 2 Sea 2026

43:09 — DuraAce 13 Speed

45:20 — Global Factor Launch at ECC

47:25 — Thank you Netto Invest

48:15 — New Pathfinder 2.2 and Maxxis Aspen

49:38 — East City Cycles' New Gravel Bike Launch

55:10 — Trek Domane

59:01 — The China Debate

1:31:05 — Choosing a MTB

# === LISTEN ON THE GO ===========================

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Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/active-hobo/id1846864699

# === FOLLOW ACTIVE HOBO =========================

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# === PARTNER LINKS ===================================

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SCICON

🔗 https://theactivehobo.short.gy/sciconsports-discount (URL and 10% Discount code link)

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🔗 https://eastcitycycles.com/

Gear Change Bicycle Store

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# === THE CREW ===================================

Dave @davlewjenkins

Jaryd @jarryd_haley

# === MORE FROM ACTIVE HOBO ======================

Latest episode: https://youtu.be/vSnCZ6pTguQ?si=4hvAobdbQznnyw10

Full podcast playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc2XIoaiAXafwoZykJM-jg6HnrLkWlJXH

Related episode: https://youtu.be/mgogDtiB_vg?si=RBaUt8VItbQisdTd

# === WORK WITH US ===============================

Sponsorships & collabs: david@activehobo.com

Send a question for the show: noah@activehobo.com

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#MTBWorlds #TomPidcock #xlab #go2sea #cannondalescalpel