Leeds cyclist Tom Pidcock wins Team GB's first individual gold at Paris Olympics
Cyclist Tom Pidcock has claimed Team GB's first individual gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
The Leeds rider became only the second man to win the men's cross country twice following a dramatic race at Élancourt Hill, 20 miles west of Paris.
The 24-year-old's victory was made all the more remarkable after he lost 36 seconds due to a puncture around halfway through the race.
A delayed tyre change left him with a 40-second gap to close.
Ahead of his birthday tomorrow, Pidcock said: "We weren't ready in the pits but he did a fast change and I knew at that point that I had five laps and thought anything was possible."
The multi-discipline rider fought back through the pack from sixth position with just three of the eight laps left.
He overtook home favourite Victor Koretzky in a dramatic race to the finish on the final lap.
Pidcock said: "Suddenly I was coming really fast back to Victor but I couldn't get rid of him and I knew how fast he was on the last lap."
The pair switched positions on more than one occasion before the Yorkshireman made a move up the inside in the forest section.
He crossed the finish line first in a time of 1:26:22, nine seconds ahead of Koretzky and 11 clear of South African Alan Hatherly.
"In the end, I just had to go for a gab and rubbings racing is what I've always done and the Olympics is not different," he said.
"I'm sorry for him, the support for him was incredible but it's the Olympics so you've got to go all in.
"It wasn’t easy, I’m keeping my glasses on for a reason. The Olympics is so special, you never give up, you need to give everything."
Who is Tom Pidcock?
Born in Leeds in 1999, Pidcock started riding to and from school aged three.
His first race came when he was seven years old and in 2013 he scored his first major success at the British National Youth Road Series in Scarborough.
His first elite cyclo-cross title came at the British Championships in Kent in 2019, followed two years later by gold at the Tokyo Olympics in the men's cross country.
That was the first Olympic medal of any colour won by a Briton in the event.
In 2022, Pidcock became the first British man to win the Cyclo-Cross World Championships.
Further success followed a year later with wins in the Strade Bianche in Italy and the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Scotland.
Earlier this year he was forced to pull out of the Tour de France after testing positive for Covid.
Victory in Paris means Pidcock retains his Olympic title having won gold in Tokyo. He now holds both the Olympic and world mountain bike titles.
His attention will now turn to the road race event on 3 August.
Pidcock's win came shortly after Team GB's first gold of the Games in the team eventing.
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