Britain’s Tom Pidcock makes winning pass on final lap to defend his Olympic mountain bike title

ELANCOURT, France (AP) — Tom Pidcock stepped down from the top step of an Olympic podium for the second time, the British anthem giving way to cheers from even the French fans, and spotted a blown-up cardboard photo of his face held aloft by one of the spectators.

Pidcock took it and gave it a sheepish wave after a decidedly outsized performance of his own.

After a punctured tire cost him the lead in the Olympic mountain bike race, the 24-year-old from Leeds recovered to track down Victor Koretzky. The two engaged in a dramatic last-lap game of cat-and-mouse, and with an audacious move where a single lane split into two, Pidock squeezed ahead and pulled away for his second straight gold medal.

“What I’m feeling right now is a bit all over the place. All I know is that I did whatever I could in that race to win,” he said. “The Olympics is the biggest thing for me and to be able to just still pull that off despite what happened is pretty incredible.”

The mountain bike judges closely examined the final pass, where Pidcock went left around a tree, Koretzky went right, and they bumped when they came back together — Koretzky nearly hitting another tree. But result was allowed to stand.

Koretzky was left with a silver medal, one day after Pauline Ferrand-Prevot delivered gold for France in the women’s race. Alan Hatherly wound up with bronze in the best mountain bike finish ever for South Africa.

“We all want the gold and we all fight for the gold,” Koretzky said. “After his puncture, Tom showed he was very strong today.”

Pidcock, who had to withdraw from the Tour de France about two weeks ago when he contracted COVID-19, joined Paola Pezzo and Julien Absalon as the only riders with two mountain bike gold medals from the Summer Games.

“That’s unlike anything we have seen for a large number of years,” said Stephen Park, the British team’s performance director.

Now, Pidcock will celebrate his birthday Tuesday before turning his attention to Saturday’s road race.

“I think I’m going to spend some time with my family. I get to see them very little in the year. This is a special time with them,” he said. “Then we can think about the road race after tomorrow.”

The weather made conditions tough at Elancourt Hill, the man-made course built at the site of an 1800s sandstone quarry-turned-regenerated park just outside of Paris. While a slight breeze at the highest point on the course kept flags waving, it was not felt anywhere else, and the cloudless sky left the sun to beat mercilessly on riders and spectators alike.

At least the riders had cooling vests, which they wore right until they coasted to the starting line.

Riley Amos, the 22-year-old American who has dominated the under-23 World Cup circuit, went right to the front on the first lap on the 4.4-kilometer (2.7-mile) course. But he soon began to fade as the favorites came to the front.

By the second lap, a select group of 14 riders — among them former Olympic silver medalist Mathias Flueckiger, three-time Olympic medal winner Nino Schurter and World Cup standouts Koretzky and Hatherly — had distanced from the field.

By the third lap, it was down to Pidcock and Koretzky, who doggedly clung to the Briton’s rear wheel.

Then misfortune struck Pidcock on Lap 4, when he suddenly pulled into the pits. The front tire on his Pinarello was losing air. His team quickly replaced it while Pidcock cooly took on water, and he remained downright stoic when he got back on the bike.

“I knew that the first thing was to stay calm. I didn’t let it really affect me,” said Pidcock, who was about 40 seconds off the lead following the wheel change. “All I could do was stay calm and then come back as best I could.”

“Of course, I wanted to come back to the front,” he added. “That’s all I cared about.”

Pidcock joined a group with British teammate Charlie Aldridge, shaving away at Koretzky’s advantage. Then he surged ahead and tracked down Hatherly, eventually working with the South African for a bit in an attempt to chase down the leader.

Once they reached Koretzky, the confident — brash, even — Pidcock immediately attacked for the lead.

Turned out he would have to do it again on the final lap for victory.

“Victor went on the climb and I know how fast he is on the last laps, especially with the home crowd. He wouldn’t have been feeling his legs,” Pidcock said. “I knew if I stayed close I could come around him near the finish, or have a chance.”