Olympic mountain bike champion might be the most hated man in France right now

Tom Pidcock might be the most hated man in France right now, but he surely doesn’t care.

The British cycling star successfully defended his mountain bike cross-country gold at the Olympic Games on Sunday, beating Frenchman Victor Koretzky in a dramatic race. Alan Hatherly of South Africa won the bronze medal.

Pidcock and Koretzky emerged as the two hottest competitors for the title relatively early, and built a lead over Hatherly and the rest of the field. However, a front-wheel puncture suffered by the defending champion changed the dynamics of the race through three of the eight laps.

What followed was a memorable and frantic comeback from Pidcock. Despite at one point being down roughly 45 seconds, he clawed his way back into the race. By the last lap, the 24-year-old had erased the deficit and found himself in a three-man group at the front together with Koretzky and Hatherly.

Hatherly was eventually dropped, setting up a back-and-forth showdown between the other two that culminated in a collision just outside the finish line.

Pidcock entering the corner in first position allowed him to eventually shake free from Koretzky to secure the gold medal. While he did cross the line under heavy boos from the crowd, he can still call himself a two-time Olympic champion now.

“It was all going pretty well,” an emotional Pidcock said after the race. “I knew Victor would be strong here. I knew that it would not be easy today, and then the puncture happened. At that point, there’s no point — actually I imagined when I was doing a ride this morning that when I punctured I was just going to say, ‘F--k, f--k, f--k’ three times slowly, calmly, and then I’d just have to go on with it.”

As for the near-crash involving his rival, Pidcock said that he would feel sorry for the outcome. However, he does not regret his aggressive line either.

“It’s the Olympics: you got to go all in.”