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BBC highlights is terrible. Missed it live as was in a meeting.
Very very pleased for Tom!
Did you watch it?
Live, and again on catch up. Did you watch it?
He lost half of that straight after the clash as he lost most of his momentum.
Someone with “more in their legs” would have been chasing Pidcock down to re-pass him rather than giving up nearly a minute from the finish.
From what I could see, there were clearly two lines available where Tom went for it, so completely legitimate to use it. By the time the trails met again he was slightly ahead, also pretty much as far left as he could be. Koretzky then steered in to try and block him (he had space on his right so didn’t need to do that), realised Tom was already ahead and going faster, then pretty much gave up from there, possibly partly from a pedal issue but I think once he saw Tom powering ahead he knew the game was up.
Completely legitimate riding from Tom Pidcock in my opinion. If there had been a penalty it would have been against Koretzky for trying to cut in.
Totally legit.
And absolutely shameful from the Frog crowd booing.
Someone with “more in their legs” would have been chasing Pidcock down to re-pass him rather than giving up nearly a minute from the finish.
Then you did see the distance he'd have had to close down to get on the wheel right?
To then out sprint Pidcock after that additional effort would be astonishing.
I'd suggest that sometimes riders know when the task in insurmountable.
To my eye, two lines either side of the tree, and at that point Pidcock was absolute full gas for the corner and had a wheel in front. Even at level, his was the inside line and no reason to yield that because Koretsky was trying to hit the same line, that's only a consideration if Koretsky was in front. Even then to avoid contact Koretsky would need a clear gap or for Pidcock to back out and on the second last corner of the Olympics, that ain't happening. So Koretsky tried to take Pidcock's line for me, made contact, and came off second best. There was no complaint, I think he knew he'd messed up the line choice. If it had gone the other way and Koretsky had put Pidcock off, I think there might have been grounds then for a complaint.
I’d suggest that sometimes riders know when the task in insurmountable.
Don't know if you don't try. Had the contact damaged his mech and when he tried to shift he'd have unseated his chain, whatever...... it's never over until the portly woman has commenced her repertoire.
Would being 40s back with 2 laps to go count as insurmountable 😉
I popped round a mate's house and he had the MTB race on the telly. It was just on in the background as we chatted, but the last few minutes were very exciting! Great overtaking move up the inside from Pidcock; Senna/Verstappen style. The French rider can't have any complaints; it's racing and you have to be on the lookout for such a move. Pidcock holds his line, he has nowhere else to go, and Koretsky veers left into Pidcock.
Watching that has made me want to get back on an MTB, after years away. Sport is wonderful.
Would being 40s back with 2 laps to go count as insurmountable 😉
Not just that but, as he himself said, for the next two laps he made absolutely no dent in that gap then suddenly over just half a lap he gained 15 seconds and suddenly it was all possible. It was a fantastic example of just never giving up for a second
I suspect all the hoo-hah about that pass is generated because the BBC commentary was from a retired golf/tennis pundit whose whole credentials for bike racing is watching a bit of Formula 1 on the telly.
And what mech was Pidcock using? I've seen a picture of him holding up his bike with what looks like a gear cable sticking out of it.
Edit - just seen it's XTR Mechanical.
All that hoo-hah about the overtake is simply because many people only see two XC races every four years.
The proportion of armchair experts with zero knowledge of the rules, let alone racing experience will be far higher. Same goes for the home public at the venue; you'll have a larger amount of clueless punters, painted up and waving flags who won't (and didn't) keep it classy if their guy gets pipped to the post.
“I think it was part of racing. We all want the goal and we all fight for the goal. That’s racing. We fought to the finish,” Koretzky said, gracious in defeat.“After his puncture he showed everyone he was on form today. I lost my opportunity, but I think I played my own chance to the end. I can be happy about that.
“I got a gap but then went off the track and so he caught me again. Then he overtook me in the forest. I didn't know he was on the left; he touched me and touched my shoes, and then I almost crashed.”
I think Koretzky's got the last word on whether the pass was a problem or not.
Looking at it, and this crash -
I think Koretzky was paying for his last attack. He looked strong but it must have really taken it out of him and he'd started to make mistakes - slipping on a corner, picking the wrong line where he was overtaken. It's a familiar story to anyone that's ridden a bike hard for a while. Eventually fatigue starts showing in your decisions and technical riding as well as in your legs. He must have given it a million percent effort to try and get gold - good on him.
I popped round a mate’s house and he had the MTB race on the telly. It was just on in the background as we chatted, but the last few minutes were very exciting! Great overtaking move up the inside from Pidcock; Senna/Verstappen style. The French rider can’t have any complaints; it’s racing and you have to be on the lookout for such a move. Pidcock holds his line, he has nowhere else to go, and Koretsky veers left into Pidcock.
I thought Koretzky was more like Verstappen. turning into the apex regardless as to whether someone is there or not. 😉
The cut-out in this picture shows what @theotherjonv says. Pidcock is not only in front but he's on the far left of the trail and is turning left.
Would being 40s back with 2 laps to go count as insurmountable
Evidently not in his head, remember the day before where his uci team mate took some massive time dents? (Her lap vs 2nd fastest lap time)
Lap 2 31sec
Lap 3 32sec
Lap 4 25sec
Lap 5 35sec
Notably lap 6 she was 25 seconds faster than Haley batten (silver)
Pidcock getting back to the point he could put that huge pressure on koretzky was superbly impressive. No panic, took time to settle back in and then make big efforts between shifts as second wheel. Koretzky didn't have the benefit of time or calm and to be fair, was potentially another mistake away from getting caught by Hatherly. No not gold, but silvers better than bronze.
BearBack
They weren’t even in the same race
Might want to watch more of that last lap.
With out the two errors it might at best have at best been a sprint with Pidcock in second wheel
If Pidcock had closed down that gap and it went to a sprint, my money would’ve been on Koretzky
I don't doubt that TP was nervous about the sprint and that's why he went past in the more technical area. My "different race" comment was based on the pace that TP showed immediately after the pass - the speed differential in the woods after was incredible.
sure it was, koretzky put a foot down, avoided a tree, almost at a stop and had to rattle back through his gears, pidcocks momentum largely unaffected.
Great pass that Koretzky left the door wide open for
sure it was, koretzky put a foot down, avoided a tree, almost at a stop and had to rattle back through his gears, pidcocks momentum largely unaffected.
yeah - probably one of those times where the speed is not obvious on TV. Koretzky came to a near halt whereas Pidcock maintained full speed. That gets a big gap very quickly.
now we’ve had both races - my opinion on the track.
overall, good, the ‘man made’ / artificial look is a necessity from location, don’t begrudge that at all.
But, I’ll repeat an observation I’ve had over the last few years a couple of times at world cups. If a pro rider with access to their sponsors full lineup of bikes, is voluntarily choosing a hardtail and/or no dropper; then the course is not technical enough for XCO.
If a pro rider with access to their sponsors full lineup of bikes, is voluntarily choosing a hardtail and/or no dropper; then the course is not technical enough for XCO.
If a large proportion of the field was leaning towards hardtails then maybe.. but that hasn't been the case.
The Olympic course is bound to be a bit sanitised due to location requirements / preferences but also because many of the riders further down the field won't have been racing World Cup standard courses.
It would have been nice if the Olympic course had been less man-made but overall it did result in some great racing!
Great pass that Koretzky left the door wide open for
Watched it again last night and I reckon Pidcock's planning to be on that inside line at the tree pass is what won him the race. He's been through there a bunch of times, knows there's a split in the track coming up with a faster inside line, and if he's got it, Koretzky will have to take the outside line and cut in for the left bend following. Pidcock executed it almost to perfection, (except his back wheel slid out and clipped Koretzky cutting back in.) However, as brilliantly planned, he was on the inside, managed that effort to get just in front, so had the rights. Awesome work.
Olympic and even recent European Championships XC courses tend to be a bit more man made rather than the natural Alpine-type courses commonly seen in MTB World Cups. Who remembers the Euros at Novi Sad in 2021, or Munich in 2022?? This was better than those two tracks. It's never going to be a World Cup course, but maybe a French Cup or even a European Championships is possible.
It produced a race for the ages in the men's (helped by a puncture) and I know GMBN were a bit harsh on it, but there are limitations on the track designers, and the choice of venue. The Olympics are Paris, and everything within reason has to be held there; obvious exceptions are sailing, and other water-based events.
Good explanation of the overtake here if you haven't seen it
https://escapecollective.com/tom-pidcock-and-the-art-of-a-gold-medal-pass/
The Olympic course is bound to be a bit sanitised due to location requirements / preferences but also because many of the riders further down the field won’t have been racing World Cup standard courses.
For the Women:
Lady from Mauritus who is primarily a road and ITT rider. She DNF'd (probably the only one I might say shouldn't really be there having only raced mtb at African continental level).
There is a Rwandan who raced Les Gets U23 XCO
Never heard of the Chinese woman but she raced both Brazil XCO rounds this year and is Chinese and Continental champion.
For the Men:
The Namibian has a second in Elite World Cup Marathon, and completed the Crans-montana XCO this year. Looks more of a marathon specialist.
The Chinese man has finished 3 XCO world cups.
Liechenstein-ian has raced multiple U23 XCO
Israeli has some farely sparse results but was top 30 in Val di Sole XCO, hard to argue he cant race with the 35 other best in the world.
Unless I've missed someone, everyone except the Mauritian woman has completed an XCO course whether in Elite or age group.
Unsure why the Olympics course is being compared to a Worlds XC race course - they are different events - although pretty much the same thing.
However, this is the Olympics and not the Worlds MTB race series...as said, it needs to be close to the main location (where possible) and they did a great job at making a very exciting spectacle.
It worked very well as there are plenty people talking about it - not just fellow MTBers, but 'normal' folk in the office and out and about...it seemed to have captured the attention of many people and that can only be a good thing.
Unsure why the Olympics course is being compared to a Worlds XC race course – they are different events
Apart from the entry list being limited to 2 or 1 per country, and start grid being done by rank, rather than a short track race the day before, it is pretty much exactly the same event and rules. the O in XCO is literally Olympic.
There are many many different ways of racing mtbs. I think global viewing figures clearly indicates the most popular format is XCO, an hour and a half of multiple laps on a singletrack course. It makes sense to replicate this most popular format for our single Olympic event.
None of us know what the LA course will be, but we can be sure it will follow those rules and it wont be a downhill timetrial or an urban eliminator.