There were boos when Tom Pidcock crossed the line to win the Paris Olympics mountain bike race. The home crowds had spotted something they didn’t like.
By the finish line at the foot of Élancourt Hill, thousands watched on big screens as the Brit made a bold winning move in the forest above. It came inside a kilometre to go, when he nipped around a tree, through the inside line, and in front of the French favourite, Victor Koretzky, who had led solo for most of the race.
The pair then brushed together. The collision caused Koretzky to unclip from his pedal, while Pidcock stormed ahead to win.
It was, to the chagrin of the French, the move that sealed one of the most spectacular comebacks in Olympic history. Around the midway point, the Brit had lost 40 seconds to a puncture, compounded by a clumsy wheel change, but fought his way back to topple the home favourite.
“I just didn’t want to give up. I wasn’t going to give up,” Pidcock said afterwards. The booing that soundtracked his victory, however, did not go unnoticed.
“It’s a shame, because that’s not really the spirit of the Olympics,” the Brit said. “But I do also understand it. The French are very passionate. They wanted Victor to win, which is understandable. But, you know, they didn’t boo the rock that made me puncture.”
Some wondered if there might be an appeal from the French camp after the race. But those rumours were quickly put to bed by British Cycling’s performance director, Stephen Park, who made clear his rider had made “no infringement” .
“As it happens, the matter was reviewed by the UCI’s sports director, Peter Van den Abeele,” Park said. “He looked at the video a number of times, and he was comfortable that the line was good. [Pidcock and Koretzky] were definitely alongside, if not Tom was slightly ahead when they came together, therefore there was no infringement.”
Pidcock shared the same view. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” he said. “I was in front and he left the door open. We were racing for a gold medal and I wanted to win just as much as he did.”
Though his fans had thought otherwise, Koretzky, too, saw no wrongdoing in the incident. “He touched my shoes, I unclipped and I almost crashed. But it’s part of racing,” the Frenchman said, sat beside Pidcock in his press conference, gracious after missing out on the victory.
“We all want the gold, and we fight for the gold. After his puncture, [Pidcock] showed to everyone that he was very strong today.”
By the time the podium ceremony came around, the bitterness had begun to subside among the French fans. There were still some boos when Pidcock received his gold medal, but the majority of the crowd applauded, acknowledging, perhaps through gritted teeth, one of the sport’s great fightbacks.
“I came here to win, and that’s all I was thinking about,” Pidcock said afterwards. “What makes the Olympics so special to me is the fact that it’s bigger than cycling. People back home, they come to the Olympics, they get into the Olympic spirit, they celebrate every gold medal.
“The biggest thing is to inspire people, and that’s what I love to do. Hopefully I did that today.”
