Pidcock denies local rider to defend Olympic MTB title
British cycling star Tom Pidcock has fought back from a puncture to successfully defend his Olympic mountain bike title.
Pidcock denied local hope Victor Koretzky in a pulsating race at Elancourt Hill, south-west of Paris, beating him by nine seconds.
For the first time since mountain bike debut in 1996, there were no Australians in the men’s field.
Pidcock, 24, is one of cycling’s top all-round talents, claiming the Amstel Gold classic on the road this year and winning a stage at the 2022 Tour de France.
He is the reigning world mountain bike champion and also a top cyclo-cross rider.
Pidcock had a poor start on Monday, but took the lead on the third of eight laps in the 35.3km event.
Koretzky was the only rider who could follow his attacks, before a mid-race puncture threatened to unravel Pidcock’s race.
The incident happened close to the pits – anywhere else could have ended his day – but the British mechanic was not ready for him.
After a slow change, Pidcock fell 40 seconds behind Koretzky to the delight of the home crowds.
Pidcock, who pulled out of the Tour de France because of COVID-19 only 16 days ago, fought his way to reclaim the lead with a lap and a half to go.
The pair traded blows over a thrilling final lap, touching in the last kilometre as Pidcock saw a gap and stole in front to take the win by nine seconds.
“The point of the Olympics is to do excellence – it’s one of the values of the Olympics,” said Pidcock, who will now target next week’s road race.
“I didn’t want to give up … I came here to win. That is all I was thinking about.”
Pidcock, who turns 25 on Tuesday, has built his entire season around this race.
“I think it’s my most emotionally draining victory,” he said.
Pidcock was booed by some in the crowd, but the collision was reviewed by the UCI race commissaire with no fault found, a verdict Koretzky was happy to accept.
South African Alan Hatherly won bronze, two seconds behind Koretzky, while Swiss mountain bike great Nino Schurter was ninth.
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