Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock produced a heroic performance to recover from a punctured tyre and retain his Olympic mountain bike title on Monday.
Pidcock’s race appeared to be over when he suffered a front wheel puncture on lap three, costing him around 26 seconds and dropping him to ninth.
But the 24-year-old recovered and powered through despite being about 40 seconds behind French leader Victor Koretzky.
In a stunning finish, Pidcock was able to pass Koretzky with just one lap to go, with the two going head-to-head all the way to the finish line.
Pidcock held off a late charge from the Frenchman but eventually finished nine seconds ahead to complete a remarkable race for the current Olympic gold medallist.
His family joined him in celebration, while Koretzky was seen crying after winning the silver medal. South Africa’s Alan Hatherley finished third to take the bronze medal.
Pidcock, who turns 25 on Tuesday, becomes only the second man to win two Olympic gold medals in mountain biking after France’s Julien Absalon.
After the race, Pidcock described his race as “full of suffering, suffering.”
“I enjoy races where I put in the effort and things are a bit easier – Tokyo was better in that regard because I was in control.
“Here, I wasn’t in control, I was struggling to get back. I made two mistakes, got a puncture and fell off the track in the same place, so it was a tough battle there.”
Below are the official race times:
- Pidcock: 1:26:22
- Koretzky: 1:26:31
- Alan Hatherley from South Africa: 1:26:33
This post has been updated with comments from Tom Pidcock from Great Britain.
