Victor Koretzky held the lead of the race for several laps thanks to the puncture of the British Tom Pidcock on Monday July 29. But the reigning Olympic champion made his superiority known by coming back in a fiery finale accompanied by the South African Alan Hatherly, bronze medalist.
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From our special correspondent,
On this 231-metre-high artificial mound in Élancourt, the victory of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot The day before made the inhabitants of the Paris region forget that this site had long housed waste and rubble from the new towns in the surrounding area.
Victor Koretzky dreamed of the Grail
Today, the hill of Élancourt has become an emblematic place of JO 2024 for gold prospectors. After a Marseillaise moving event that celebrated the long-awaited victory of one of the greatest cyclists in the world, with an incredible track record, her compatriot Victor Koretzky had every intention of leaving his mark along these winding paths, he who had won in September 2023 during the Olympic test event.
Since then, he had been dreaming out loud of the Grail. To do so, he had to get rid of the British Tom Pidcock, reigning Olympic champion, big favorite, but who had abandoned the last Tour de France because of a Covid-19 infection. And it was a great Tom Pidcock who came to defend his coronation in Japan. While he had a flat tire at the end of the third lap and was in combat with the Frenchman, the Leeds native chased for three laps before swooping down on the Tricolore, in overwhelming heat.
” Tom Pidcock was very strong today »
In the final, the two men touched and the Frenchman was forced to take off his shoes. Tom Pidcock, booed at the finish, rode to victory and became the second mountain biker to retain his Olympic title after the Frenchman Julian Absalon in 2008. I made a small mistake of inattention on the descent. The lead bike was putting gravel, I took some. This mistake cost me gold. In the wood, Pidcock touched me and undid my shoe, it was hard to do something, but he is a great champion “, commented Victor Koretzky. And added: ” Gold was possible until the last run. I’m torn between the joy of having silver around my neck and the disappointment of not going home with gold. But Tom Pidcock was very strong today. »
” We have a great group, a great generation and two medals in mountain biking. We knew we would have the wind at our backs here. My athletes had had that in their belly for months ” said national coach Yvan Clolus. The duel was great for the spectators, and unfortunate for the Frenchman.
Confirmation for South African Alan Hatherly
Leading the race from the start of hostilities, South African Alan Hatherly rode a perfect race to secure a well-deserved bronze medal. Second for a long time, he saw Pidcock come back in the 6th lap. At the beginning of July, Hatherly had won the sixth round of the Cross-Country World Cup in France, in Les Gets in Haute-Savoie, for the last race before the Olympics.
The current World Cup leader arrived in Paris 2024 in good shape. A multiple African champion, he finished 26th at the Rio Olympics. In Tokyo in 2021, he entered the top 10 with an 8th place. This time, he leaves the Olympics with a medal in his pocket, a great reward for South African mountain biking.
” I had pressure after my victory in Les Gets and as leader of the World Cup. It’s incredible to be the first African cyclist to get a medal at the Olympics. I think it will take me a while to realize “, he admitted at a press conference.
To consultJO 2024 program and calendar