Less than two months after being hit by a car in training and breaking his collarbone, Tom Pidcock stood atop the podium, winning gold in the men's cross country mountain bike race at the Tokyo Olympics.

The 21-year-old was hit by a car while training in early June, forcing him to undergo surgery and missing the Tour de Suisse stage race.

At that point his mountain biking ambitions in Tokyo were in jeopardy, but on Monday he bounced back in a comprehensive way to become the youngest ever male winner in the discipline and win Britain's first gold medal.

"It's really hard to come this far after falling and breaking my collarbone, it's unbelievable," Pidcock said at the finish line of the men's race.

"It's unlike any other race. The Olympics transcends any sport. No matter what sport you like, you are competing to represent your country and everyone in your country is rooting for you. It's just national pride and it's incredible."

Pidcock measured his efforts perfectly throughout the race, maintaining his position at the front of the pack as the Swiss pair of Matthias Fluechiger and Nino Schluter took the early lead.

He narrowly avoided the crash that eventually led to the abandonment of Mathieu van der Pol (Netherlands) and attacked throughout the second and third laps. The British rider used his superior hill-climbing skills at every opportunity, finally closing the gap to Fruechiger with around four laps to go.

"I always prefer to be in control. I run my own line, my own speed. Once I got going I was fine, I was able to relax and focus on the race, which is nice because the Olympics only come around every four years and it's stressful."

Pidcock also had a great start to his World Tour career at Ineos Grenadiers. He placed third at the Krune-Brussel-Krune in late February, fifth at Strade Bianche, and 15th at Milan-San Remo.

The 21-year-old Neopro won De Brabantse Pijl, but missed out on victory in the Amstel Gold Race, losing to Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) in a photo finish. He is expected to make his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a España later this year.

Pidcock will take some time off after his win, but has already said he hopes to return to challenge for road and time trial titles at the Paris Olympics in three years. For now, he is basking in his gold medal and plans to return home to greet his family in a few days.

"I know my mom and girlfriend are at home crying," he said. I'm sad I can't be here, but I'll see them when I get home."