Tom Pidcock defies puncture to claim Olympic mountain-biking gold
Tom Pidcock powered to a spectacular comeback to claim back-to-back gold medals in the men’s mountain biking after overcoming a mid-race puncture that looked to have ended his chances. In an epic performance, Pidcock, gold medallist in Tokyo three years ago, closed a 40-second gap to the race leader, Victor Koretzky, on the penultimate lap before accelerating hard on the final moments to drop the Frenchman.
The 24-year-old’s hopes of victory seemed to have been ended by apuncture and a sloppy wheel change on the fourth of seven laps, just as he was moving ahead of the rest of the field, with Koretzky.
The lost momentum was compounded by confusion in the pit lane as Pidcock rode in pointing at his front wheel, only to find his support team unprepared. In contrast with his team helpers, there was no panic from Pidcock as he stood waiting in the pits for a fresh front tyre, although the delay left him well behind Koretzky.
The mishap came just before a key drop-off on lap four of seven. As he approached a high drop, he was forced to unclip gingerly as Koretzky flew through the jump and accelerated clear. Pidcock’s grit, though, took him to gold, just as Koretzky faded.
