From "Verstappen of mountain biking" to "there was no room": Pidcock's golden overtaking action gets people talking

Tom Pidcock's gold medal at the Olympics has caused some controversy. The 24-year-old Briton prolonged his title by squeezing past Frenchman Viktor Koretsky on the final lap. In addition to the two protagonists, the cycling world dived on the daring overtake.

On the final lap, Pidcock selected the straight line to the left of the tree in front of him on a descent. Koretsky and he had always chosen the outside in the laps before, but Pidcock now played on the surprise. He came out through the shortcut slightly ahead of Koretsky, and the two touched. Pidcock then ran out and grabbed the gold; Koretsky had to settle for silver in front of his own crowd.

"As the finish approached, the rider from the INEOS Grenadiers cleverly and skillfully changed strategy on his bike," wrote L'Equipe, who called the action very intelligent. The French public disagreed, as evidenced by a massive booing toward Pidcock at the finish line. Two-time Olympic champion Julien Absalon also felt the same: "There was no room for two in that corner; it was daring of Pidcock to do it like that. I think a desperate move, but it worked."

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Pidcock dubbed "Verstappen of mountain biking"

In Holland and Belgium, analysts felt little was wrong with Pidcock's action. "Lovely final, lovely overtaking action by Pidcock. Nothing wrong with it, in my opinion. Awkward that the French crowd booed him," cycling journalist Thijs Zonneveld wrote via his official channels. On X, the opinion was also often shared that Pidcock's bold move resembled Max Verstappen, who often gained a better position in his car in Formula 1 similarly. "It looked like Verstappen against Lewis Hamilton!"

At Sporza, José De Cauwer was crystal clear: "I wouldn't call it a race incident, just a clever maneuver. It happens in a bunch of sprints that riders suddenly appear and overtake. That just happens, and that's using your skills and abilities," said the Belgian, who had not seen the jury intervene. "The UCI looked at the maneuver twice, and no action was taken. If something had happened, it would have been different. It was in France, with a Frenchman. You know how that goes, with external influence that did exist with boos from the public. That makes sense. One yells boo and sees something. The whole thing then explodes, and you join in. If you bring that up tomorrow, none of those guys will boo anymore. Those are snapshots."