‘It’s bigger than cycling’: Tom Pidcock defies puncture to claim Olympic gold

Tom Pidcock blew away his rivals with a virtuoso performance on the rough gravel of Elancourt Hill to take back-to-back gold medals in Olympic mountain biking. In an epic battle with France’s Victor Koretzky, Pidcock pulled off the performance of his career, ­fighting back from a puncture and a clumsy wheel change to snatch gold at the very last.

“This is what makes the Olympics to me, the fact that it’s bigger than cycling,” Pidcock said, three years after winning his first gold in Tokyo . “People back home, they get into the Olympic spirit, they celebrate every gold medal but the biggest thing is to inspire people. That is what I love to do. Hopefully I did that today.”

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On the eve of his 25th birthday, Pidcock’s successful defence of his Olympic title was achieved the hard way, and as much due to his temperament and cunning as it was his power, determination and speed.

Cut adrift by 40 seconds from the front of the race after his puncture, Pidcock stayed calm. “What’s the point in stressing? I have had enough stress this week.”

All of Pidcock’s predatorial instincts were on display as he shrugged off his setback, maintained his focus and then applied a brutal coup de grace, to fatigued race leader, Koretzky, almost within sight of the finish line. As the pair raced through woods in the last few hundred metres, Pidcock accelerated and took the inside line on a left-hand curve.

“There were only maybe two, three or four places on the track to undertake,” Pidcock said. “Two of them were full gas anyway, the rest are single-track. It was really difficult.”

But even though his attack drew boos from the partisan French crowds, he chose his moment well. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I was in front, and he left the door open. We were racing for a gold medal. I wanted to win as much as he did.”

It was a surprise move that, although wholly legitimate, left ­Koretzky between a tree and a hard place. By the time he had registered Pidcock slipping past, grazing his left shoulder, he was flailing in the woods. “He could have also gone left, and I would have gone right,” Pidcock said. “In this position, you don’t hesitate, the gap was there, and I was going for it.”

Koretzky had no complaints. “It’s part of the race,” the Frenchman said. “We all want the gold and we all fought for the gold.”

Pidcock, who had Covid this month, was forced to abandon the Tour de France , a little over two weeks before the Olympics. If there had been any ill effects they did not show. He and Koretzky moved straight into an early lead and had dropped the rest of the field as soon as the third lap.

“Normally in these races, in mountain bike, I make the gap early on,” Pidcock said. “I made the gap, Victor was behind me.”

But his puncture, which he put down to a “mistake”, derailed the best laid plan. “I was suffering. I made too many mistakes. It was difficult to enjoy it because of the situation. I was fighting to come back.”

A painfully slow wheel change made it a long hard road to get back to the front of the race. “At first, I didn’t make any inroads,” Pidcock said of his lengthy chase. “It didn’t matter how much road was left, as I wasn’t getting any closer. “Then with three laps to go, I took 15 ­seconds [back] in one lap, and I thought, for sure, with one lap to go, I’m at the front. I knew I was going to be racing for the gold.”

Stephen Park, the Team GB perfor­mance director, said: “He’s been absolutely laser focused on winning this all year. Technically, he’s just a better rider than anyone else.”

Pidcock’s daredevil exploits off, and on, road are fast becoming legen­dary. His breakneck descent off the Col du Galibier on his way to a stage win in the 2022 Tour de France is one of them, but few moments in his career are likely to top this.

Pidcock is coached by the Belgian Kurt Bogaerts, as is his Ineos Grenadiers stablemate Pauline ­Ferrand‑Prévot, winner of the ­women’s race on Sunday.

Bogaerts will always have Paris, the happy place for his two Olympic champions, both of whom mastered the much-maligned gravelled hill. Now Pidcock must go again, this time on the road.

His next goal is the men’s 273km road race on Saturday, on a course he says is best suited to “raw power” but that others maintain is not suited to him. Based on his performance in Elancourt, Pidcock has every chance of claiming another medal.