Tom Pidcock wins cross-country mountain bike gold with dominant ride

Tom Pidcock could have been forgiven for thinking his Tokyo dream was over in May when he sustained a broken collarbone from being hit by a car while out on a training ride. However, on Monday he joined the Team GB goldrush, winning Great Britain’s third gold medal of the Olympics with a dominant ride in the men’s cross-country mountain bike race in Izu.

The 21-year-old Yorkshireman started on the fourth row but quickly got himself into the leading group and powered past the Swiss pair of Mathias Flückiger and Nino Schurter to take control on the fourth of seven laps.

Flückiger was the only man left in touch as Pidcock kept the power down to win by 20 seconds, even having time to snatch a union flag from the small crowd of spectators allowed into the course, which he held aloft as he crossed the line.

“I’m always better when I take control myself. I take my own lines, my own speed. Once we started I was fine, all the nerves kind of went and I concentrated on the race,” he said.

“It’s nothing like any other race. The Olympics just transcends any sport. You compete and represent your country and everyone in your country is behind you, no matter in what sports they like. It’s just national pride, it’s unbelievable.”

Britain’s Thomas Pidcock celebrates as he crosses the finish to win the gold medal in the cycling mountain bike men’s cross-country event. Photograph: Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images

In May, Pidcock had been riding downhill in Andorra when his bike was hit from the side by a driver. His Ineos Grenadiers coach Kurt Bogaerts said at the time that Pidcock had been catapulted over the car, and pictures emerged online of his bike snapped into two pieces by the impact. The crash caused him to withdraw from the Tour de Suisse. Covid restrictions were already limiting his training and race opportunities, but the Leeds-born rider prepared for the conditions in Tokyo by training in a super-heated tent in the spare room of his house in England.

“I haven’t done a good race since. I’ve trained really hard, I knew I was in great shape but there’s always doubt when I haven’t performed in a race. But once the race started, I knew I was in a good place. The heat, I mean, obviously I didn’t feel good but everyone just told me no one will feel good.”

Pidcock adds the Olympic mountain bike title to his already extensive palmarès, having won world titles in cyclocross, road and mountain bike events at under-23 level. This is Britain’s first Olympic mountain biking medal. He is a road racer with the Ineos Grenadiers team and has been tipped as a potential future Grand Tour champion.

Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands (left) crashes during the men’s mountain cross-country bike race. Photograph: Thibault Camus/AP

When asked how it felt to win gold, Pidcock told Eurosport: “Not real really. It’s pretty crazy that I became an Olympian, and I was trying to tell myself at the start of the race it’s special just to be here.”

David Valero of Spain won the battle for bronze, 34sec down, the distance to the chasing pack underlining Pidcock’s dominance. Mathieu van der Poel, another of the pre-race favourites, pulled out after the fifth lap having crashed heavily early on. “He went in super slow and I backed off because I knew that wasn’t going to end well,” Pidock said.

Ondrej Cink was another casualty, showing obvious disappointment when a puncture ended his race while he was in a promising position.

“I have high expectations on myself but I delivered,” Pidcock said.“I’ve got time on my side. I’m in no rush. I’m Olympic champion so I’m clearly not doing much wrong. I will enjoy this first.”