A double Olympic champion with a mountain bike just got beaten to the top of Wales’ highest peak — by a man using nothing but his own two feet.
Tom Pidcock, one of the most decorated off-road cyclists on the planet, took on ultramarathon runner Tom Evans in a Red Bull-sponsored race up Yr Wyddfa — better known internationally as Snowdon — and came away on the losing end.
The kicker? Pidcock had a mountain bike. Evans had none of those advantages.
What unfolded on that wet, fog-shrouded Welsh mountainside is the kind of story that makes you question everything you thought you knew about sport.
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Two Champions, One Mountain, Zero Guarantees
Red Bull set both athletes on the same roughly 7-kilometer route with close to 1,000 meters of climbing — almost certainly the Llanberis Path, the only bridleway on the mountain that begins on a tarmac road out of the village below.
Pidcock’s credentials coming in were staggering. He had claimed his second elite cross-country mountain bike world title just ten days earlier in Val di Sole, finishing 17 seconds clear of the field despite starting from the fifth row of the grid. He also holds Olympic cross-country gold medals from both Tokyo and Paris, and finished ninth at this year’s Tour de France. The man is, by any measure, a generational talent on two wheels.
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Evans brought a different kind of résumé. The ultrarunner claimed victory at the legendary UTMB in 2025, completing the 171-kilometer mountain race in 19:18:58 after years of falling short. His 2025 season has been a mixed bag of highs and withdrawals — he also won the Yorkshire Three Peaks in April by more than 15 minutes — but nobody was questioning his ability to move fast over brutal terrain on foot.
The Moment Pidcock Realized He Was in Trouble
The early stages played out almost exactly as logic would predict. Pidcock had the advantage on the tarmac section at the base of the climb, his bike doing what bikes do on a smooth road surface.
Except Evans was still right there when the tarmac ended. Pidcock, apparently caught off guard, said exactly what he was thinking.
Are you still here? I thought we’d have the head start here after the road, but he’s already ahead of me.
That was the moment the challenge shifted dramatically. Above the road, the route turned to wet stone, steep gradients, and unforgiving terrain — and Pidcock’s bike went from asset to anchor.
When the Bike Became a Burden
Wet rocks and punishing angles stripped away every mechanical advantage Pidcock had. Traction disappeared, and he was soon off the bike entirely — pushing and carrying it through the harder sections while Evans moved freely ahead.
Evans opened a decisive gap with around 2 kilometers remaining. Rain moved in, wind picked up, and thick fog rolled across the summit at 1,085 meters (3,560 feet). The conditions were miserable for everyone, but only one of them was hauling a bike through it.
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Pidcock, to his credit, didn’t make excuses. Reflecting afterward, he acknowledged the mountain had won the argument.
It had not been the best way to climb that terrain.
Evans, meanwhile, had nothing to carry and nowhere to be except the top.
A Path With Deep Racing Roots
The Llanberis Path isn’t just a scenic trail — it has hosted competitive racing since 1976. The Ras yr Wyddfa covers 10 miles up and back down the same route, starting from Cae Ddol in Llanberis and passing under the Half Way and Clogwyn railway bridges on the way to the summit.
The men’s course record of 1:02:29 has stood since 1985, set by Kenny Stuart. Carol Greenwood’s women’s record of 1:12:48 dates back even further, to 1993 — a mark that remains untouched more than three decades on. This year’s edition drew over 450 runners, going to Italy’s Massimiliano Berti in 1:04:13, with Scotland’s Emily McNicol taking the women’s race in 1:16:56.
It was only the 49th running of what should have been the race’s 50th anniversary — the 2020 and 2021 editions were lost to the pandemic.
The Rules That Govern the Mountain
Eryri National Park operates a voluntary cycling agreement across the mountain’s bridleways, asking riders to avoid cycling to or from the summit between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. from May 1 through September 30. The Llanberis Path sits on that list, alongside the Miners’ Path, the Snowdon Ranger Path, and the Rhyd Ddu Path.
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The park’s stated goal is protecting the safety and enjoyment of the more than 600,000 walkers who reach that summit every year. While the restriction is a request rather than a legal byelaw, the Countryside Act 1968 does require cyclists on bridleways to yield to walkers and horse riders. The seasonal restriction lifts on October 1.
Red Bull has not publicly named the specific route used for the challenge, though the profile details point squarely to the Llanberis Path.
What This Actually Proves
It would be easy to frame this as an upset — a cyclist humbled by a runner on the wrong kind of terrain. But the reality is more nuanced, and frankly, more fascinating.
Steep, technical mountain terrain rewards different physical tools entirely. Elite mountain runners are trained specifically to move efficiently uphill on exactly this kind of surface — wet, loose, uneven, and unrelenting. Carrying a bike up a fog-soaked Welsh ridge is a contest no cyclist was ever designed to win.
Still, watching a two-time Olympic champion get out-climbed on his own challenge — in conditions he chose — is the kind of moment sport occasionally delivers just to keep everyone humble.
Evans reached the top. Pidcock got there too, eventually, bike in tow. Sometimes the mountain just picks a winner of its own.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
