Dust-smeared faces, crashes, a strong young Briton and a surprising bronze medal for Spain: The Olympic men's mountain bike race in Tokyo on Monday morning was a tough one and once again showed just how high the performance level of the world's fastest cross-country bikers is. The selective Izu MTB course with its many rock gardens, steep ramps and dusty berms played a big part in the spectacular images. The men had to complete seven laps of 3.85 kilometres plus a start lap in the battle for the Olympic medals. No easy task in temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius and high humidity. Contrary to the initial announcements by the Olympic organisers, there were even a few spectators along the course.
Crash destroys van der Poel's medal dream early on
Superstar Mathieu van der Poel had to bid farewell to his Olympic dream on the very first lap. In the leading group, the Dutchman, who had retired early from the Tour de France, crashed on a large stone drop. With his face contorted in pain, van der Poel had to let the entire field go and took up the chase almost a minute behind. But only until the fifth lap: there van der Poel got off his Canyon Lux in the feed zone and finished the race. It is not yet clear how badly the 26-year-old injured his right hip. About the crash van der Poel meanwhile on Instagram posted that he didn't know that the wooden ladder that had been installed there in the past few days to unroll the jump had been removed for the race.
At the front, the Swiss duo of Nino Schurter and Mathias Flückiger set the pace in the first two laps. Other favourites such as Milan Vader (NED) and the Brazilian Henrique Avancini were also in the mix in the leading group of around ten riders. However, the Swiss riders were unable to pull away. On the third lap, the young Briton Tom Pidcock took the lead, with the two Swiss riders and New Zealander Anton Cooper keeping up. Behind them, Victor Koretzky (FRA) and Ondrej Cink (CZE) fought to catch up.
Pidcock lays the foundation for gold in round four
On the fourth of seven laps, the reigning e-MTB world champion, who rides for the road team Ineos Grenadiers, got serious: he increased the pace from the front in a controlled manner and set off alone. Only the double winner of the World Cup in Les Gets, Mathias Flückiger, refused to let the 21-year-old Brit go and set off in pursuit. By the end of the fifth lap, Flückiger's gap was less than ten seconds, so he could see Pidcock again and again. But it was not enough to close the gap. Pidcock rode too confidently on the technical descents and sprinted too hard up the short, extremely steep ramps. Just how steep and demanding the course is became clear on lap five: As one of the strongest climbers in the field, even Flückiger had to briefly get off his bike and run on an uphill.
Pidcock extended his lead to 20 seconds by the finish in a routine and controlled manner and won gold for Great Britain with the British flag in his arms after 1:25:14 hours. At the age of 21. After winning the "Arrow of Brabant" road race and fourth place at the 2021 Cyclocross World Championships, this is certainly the biggest triumph for the Brit, who is following in the footsteps of Rio Olympic champion Nino Schurter.
Battle for bronze: Cink with a defect, Valero from behind
Silver went unchallenged to 32-year-old Swiss rider Mathias Flückiger. But behind him, Nino Schurter, Anton Cooper, Ondrej Cink and Victor Koretzky battled it out for bronze until the sixth lap. Then events came thick and fast: First, the Czech Cink suffered a rear wheel defect on a descent and had to let the others go in disappointment. As the race entered the final lap on the home straight, David Valero Serrano (ESP) suddenly caught up with Schurter's trio from behind. The tall Spaniard set the pace on the final lap, forcing Koretzky and Cooper to let go. The 32-year-old Valero Serrano - ninth in Rio 2016 - also shook off Schurter in the final metres to secure the bronze medal. Just as surprising as his compatriot Carlos Coloma five years ago in Rio.
Max Brandl in 21st place at Olympic premiere
Manuel Fumic finished 28th in his fifth Olympic Games, 7:14 minutes behind the field. Max Brandl from Freiburg was in 13th place on the first lap and finished 21st in his Olympic debut. In a first statement Max Brandl was satisfied with his performance: "It was a great race, it was really fun for the most part. The result wasn't perfect, but I learnt a lot. I got away well at the start, then had a bit of bad luck because I had to walk in some sections. I didn't crash and I rode well. That's why I'm very happy." His Chilean team-mate at Lexware, Martin Vidaurre, even made it into the top 20 in 16th place. 21-year-old Vidaurre finished one place ahead of Austrian Max Foidl.
