Pidcock was fastest through the first two intermediate time checks to book his place in the hot seat, but faced a nervous wait as home rider Andreas Leknessund bettered him at both checkpoints.

But when the Norwegian faded in the final kilometres, where Pidcock had timed his effort to perfection, the Otley-born was able to celebrate victory.

“I knew a podium was a possibility, but I didn’t really think I’d take the lead and then hold it all the way to the finish like that,” he admitted.

Pidcock is the first British rider to claim an individual medal at this year’s UCI Road World Championships, though Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Owain Doull won team time trial bronze with Team Sky.

Pidcock’s fellow junior men’s time trial competitor Fred Wright finished 19^th, 57 seconds slower than his compatriot.

In the men’s under-23 race, meanwhile, Scott Davies finished tenth on the 37km course, with a time of 48.49 – 1’43” slower than Danish winner Mikkel Bjerg.

So only just saw this but Lauren Dolan did incredibly well to finish only 2’24 down today after her crash. These girls are tough! pic.twitter.com/5uoZLrm6MQ

— Jamie Haughey (@JamieHaughey) September 18, 2017

In the women’s junior race, Pfeiffer Georgi finished seventh, completing the 16.1km course in 24.42, while team-mate Lauren Dolan was 27^th – the latter completing the course despite suffering huge abrasions on her leg in a crash in the final kilometres.

Pidcock – who will ride for Sven Nys’ Telenet-Fidea Lions during the cyclo-cross season, before riding with Team Wiggins on the road next year – will now next be in action in the junior men’s road race on Saturday (September 23).