Tokyo 2020: Tom Pidcock takes mountain bike gold

Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock took the nation’s gold medal tally to three on the third day of the Tokyo 2020, securing a dominant win in the men’s mountain bike cross country.

The rider was so far ahead of his nearest rival, Mathias Flueckiger of Switzerland, that he was able to unfurl a Union Jack and wave it as he crossed the finish line.

The bronze went to David Valero Serrano of Spain, who was more than 34 seconds behind, underlining Pidcock’s dominance.

Pidcock now enters the history books as the first Briton to win an Olympic medal of any kind in mountain biking.

The GB rider had a gap to close, as he wasn’t in the front row of the grid, but he had already powered his way up towards the front by the first turn, and he was in the top ten by the first climb.

Pidcock was part of an elite 15-rider group, but a major crash by the Netherlands’ Mathieu van der Poel just ten minutes into the race upset the order, and ruled the Dutch rider out – he was the pre-race favourite, and managed to ride until the fifth lap, at which point he pulled out altogether.

After 44 minutes, Pidcock powered past race leader Nino Schurter of Switzerland, and then he simply rode into the distance, his rivals unable to mount any attack. As Schurter faded away into an eventual fourth-place finish, only Flueckiger remained in pursuit, but he slipped on the fifth lap and that was the end of his gold hopes. He finished 20 seconds behind Pidcock’s time of 1:25.14.

After the race, Pidcock was asked how it felt to win gold: “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.”