A puncture left Team GB’s reigning champion needing a miracle. That is exactly what he produced
A puncture left Team GB’s reigning champion needing a miracle in the final. That is exactly what he producedin a nail-biting mountain-biking final on Monday. Pidcock defended his title by overtaking his French opponent, Victor Koretzky, with less than a minute of the race remaining. Before the race, to the west of Paris, calling it “bland”. But racing on it, he produced a win that was anything but.
On the fourth lap disaster struck. Pidcock had a puncture that left him in ninth place, 40 seconds behind Koretzky. He appeared calm as his tyre was changed clumsily in the pit area. But by the end of fifth lap Pidcock had clawed back 15 seconds to put him sixth – and on the seventh lap he overtook Koretzky again. Then it was all down to the eighth and final lap. This is how that unfolded.
The Frenchman lost momentum, allowing Pidcock to speed towards the finish line – leaving his opponent behind to attempt to catch up with him one final time.In the final seconds Pidcock looked over his shoulder one last time, nine seconds in front of Koretzky. The Briton held his arms above his head as he crossed the finish line – confirming his Olympic title.
“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,” Pidcock said. His opponent agreed. “It’s part of the race,” Koretzky said.
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