Phoenix fights back from the brink like Tom Pidcock to sensationally claim second Olympic mountain bike gold

Unlike the women’s race on Sunday, where Pauline Ferrand-Prevot attacked early and then dominated, the group of big favourites was still relatively close together in the battle for gold in the men’s race at the end of lap 2. With Mathias Flückiger leading the way, Pidcock was well positioned in 2nd place, with Nino Schurter not far behind.

On lap 3, however, Pidcock made his big move, with Victor Koretzky the only one who could follow. With the relentless pace of the leading duo, the gap quickly threatened to become unbridgeable. Half a lap after the attack, Pidcock and Koretzky were already separated by some 12 seconds from the rest of the race.

With Pidcock suffering a puncture in the front tyre, the Briton was slowed considerably early on lap 4 and with his team support not ready for him, Koretzky and the rest of the main challengers put significant time into the reigning gold medallist. As lap 5 began, Pidcock was back to 8th place, 39 seconds behind the leader, with South African Alan Hatherly in 2nd place, 12 seconds behind Koretzky.

While the first and second seemingly held their lead steady, the battle behind them was led by the British duo of Aldridge and Pidcock, with New Zealander Samuel Gaze also still in contention for bronze. On lap 6, however, Pidcock accelerated again, desperately fighting to get back into the race for the gold medal, while Flückiger tried to follow.

While Koretzky was still looking strong, Pidcock was closing the gap. The question was whether he could close it quickly enough. By the end of lap 6, Pidcock had made contact with Hatherly, but the pair were still 17 seconds behind the sole French leader. By the first split of lap 7, however, that gap had been reduced to just 5 seconds, with Hatherly clinging to Pidcock’s rear wheel and reaping the rewards. Moments later, the incredible comeback was complete.

As Pidcock wasted no time hanging around and immediately accelerated again, Hatherly found himself in trouble, but Koretzky wasn’t quite done yet. There was a lull early in the final lap as the trio waited for the next big move. Pidcock was the first to make a test attack, but couldn’t break the elastic to Koretzky, although Hatherly again struggled to keep in touch.

However, when Koretzky countered, spurred on by the support of the home crowd, the Frenchman pushed on and passed Pidcock. The momentum continued to swing however as Pidcock retook the lead on the descent, only to let Koretzky himself move forward again. Through the forest, Pidcock came up the inside and the pair made contact, nearly sending them both to the ground. It was the Brit who came out on top of the incident and secured the win.

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