Britain’s Tom Pidcock finished third just behind Mathieu van der Poel in Sunday’s cyclo-cross World Cup race.
Pidcock was just 11 seconds behind Van der Poel and four off Wout van Aert, two of cycling’s most talented riders.
Pidcock, 21, who rides for Trinity, is joining Ineos Grenadiers for the 2021 season.
In the women’s race in Namur, Belgium, Britain’s Evie Richards and Anna Kay finished sixth and seventh respectively.
Kay has had top 10 finishes during this cyclo-cross this season – a tough proving ground for young riders looking to break into elite road cycling.
Lucinda Brand of the Netherlands won the women’s race.
Pidcock is expected to be part of squads contesting top-level races for Ineos next season, and is widely regard as a talent which could see him following in the footsteps of Tao Geoghegan Hart, who won this year’s Giro d’Italia.
Van der Poel, of the Netherlands, won this year’s Tour of Flanders, and Belgian Van Aert won two stages of the Tour de France as well as the prestigious ‘monument’ one-day classic race Milan-San Remo.
The pair are high-profile figures in cyclo-cross, which mainly consists of Dutch and Belgian competitors. Pidcock was the only nationality from outside the two countries in Sunday’s top 10.
The third of five UCI cyclo-cross World Cup races is on 27 December in Dendermonde, Belgium.
