Tom Pidcock Overcomes Puncture To Win Mountain Bike Gold At Olympics
Tom Pidcock Overcomes Puncture To Win Mountain Bike Gold At Olympics
British rider Tom Pidcock staged an extraordinary comeback from a puncture to win his second straight mountain biking Olympic gold Monday.
British rider Tom Pidcock staged an extraordinary comeback from a puncture to win his second straight mountain biking Olympic gold Monday, holding off French home favourite Victor Koretzky in a thrilling sprint finish.
Pidcock celebrates his 25th birthday on Tuesday but the tyre mishap threatened to spoil the party, dropping him down from first to ninth place, 40 seconds off the pace.
But he picked his way through the field after a ponderous tyre change to bring himself back into contention just behind Koretzky, who was being roared on by a partisan home crowd.
Overhauling Koretzky with metres to spare in a helter-skelter dash for the line, Pidcock could scarcely believe what he had done.
"The Olympics is the biggest thing for me and to be able to just still pull that off despite what happened is pretty incredible," he said.
"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 added.
Pidcock, who counts cycling legends Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins among his heroes, is a cross-discipline cyclist with Tour de France stage wins and a cyclo-cross world title on his CV.
He entered Tour de France folklore in 2021 for his daredevil descent of the Galibier mountain pass, before climbing doggedly through massed and hysterical crowds to an epic stage win at Alpe d'Huez.
After learning to ride at the age of three, he credits racing on his bike to get to school on time for his cycling versatility.
Koretzky admitted he had "mixed feelings" about the race.
"Everyone dreams of an Olympic medal. It's still very satisfying," said the silver medallist, 29.
Pidcock said the race was "definitely the most emotionally draining victory" he had experienced.
"I knew if I could stay close, I could come around him near the finish, or have a chance," he added.
Related Content
- Explosive Gravel Stage: Tour de France 2024 Drama
Jul 7, 2024
- Primoz Roglic Survives Gravel Tour de France 2024 Test
Jul 7, 2024
- Tour de Suisse 2024 Race Preview & Favorites
May 29, 2024
- Flèche Wallonne 2024 Preview - Tom Pidcock The Favorite
Apr 16, 2024
- Tom Pidcock Sprints To Victory In Amstel Gold Cycling Classic
Apr 14, 2024
- Replay: 2024 Amstel Gold Race Women & Men
Apr 14, 2024
- Tom Pidcock's Moment In the Amstel Gold Race 2024
Apr 14, 2024
- Amstel Gold Race 2024 Preview: Mathieu Van Der Poel Vs. The World
Apr 11, 2024
- Mathieu Van Der Poel Crushes Rivals On Paris-Roubaix Cobbles To Win In 2024
Apr 7, 2024