Tom Pidcock feels that the silver medal he won in the elite men's race at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships will give him a springboard to contend with Mathieu van der Pol in the future.

The 20-year-old British rider, in his first year in the elite category, held off the challenge of the Belgian rider to take the silver medal behind runaway winner Van der Pol.

Van der Pol is five years older than the rising British star, and he feels he needs two more years of development before he can challenge for the world championship.

"It's probably the best cyclocross riding I've ever done because I'm second in the world behind Mathieu.

"I'm not often satisfied with second place, even in the elite, but today I felt like I won the race. It was a race that Mathieu lost and to come in second was special. This is a stepping stone and if I can be first among the rest, then I get to race with Mathieu." [He is] four or five years older than me, so we'll be at each other's peak soon. I think we'll battle it out in a few races next year, and then we'll race properly the year after."

Pidcock attacked a group of Belgian riders at the halfway point and held off the challenge of Toon Arts and Wout Van Art to take the silver medal.

"I thought the best defense was to attack, so that was my plan. And Toon was there, and the gap yo-yoed from eight seconds, to seven seconds, to six seconds, and the last four laps were brutal." [I was struggling to keep my pace, especially in the first few laps. The first few laps were a race where I had no choice but to pace myself.

Pidcock will next target the U23 Mountain Bike World Championships, where he and Florian Vogel will begin their preparation by competing in the Cape Epic.

"I plan to ride mainly mountain bikes until the end of June and then finish at the World Championships," he said.

"I'm going to try to win the Under 23 World Mountain Bike Championships. I'll be riding with Florian Vogel in the Cape Epic.

"If I don't do cyclocross, I don't feel like the same rider.