Drama struck for the defending champion and Olympic favourite, Tom Pidcock, on lap four of the men’s Olympic XCO race at Élancourt Hill near Paris, when he suffered a front puncture while in the lead. Although Pidcock, who’d broken away from the chasing pack with French star Viktor Koretzky, flatted close to the technical zone – where riders can get mechanical assistance – his mechanics weren’t ready with a spare front wheel, compounding the time lost on track. Around ten seconds was lost in the hunt for a new wheel, and a further 24 seconds in the pit stop, leaving Pidcock over half a minute behind Koretzky once he’d got going again. Sensibly Pidcock elected to walk down a drop-off just after the puncture occurred, but again, this also added to the gap Koretzky was able to pull out.

ELANCOURT, FRANCE – JULY 29: (L-R) Mathias Flueckiger of Team Switzerland and Thomas Pidcock of Team Great Britain compete during the Men’s Cross-Country on day three of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Elancourt Hill on July 29, 2024 in Elancourt, France. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

Pidcock uses Continental Cross King tyres and exotic P1 Race Technologies wheels with kevlar spokes to save weight, mounted to his Pinarello Dogma XC full-suspension bike with Suntour forks and shock. Earlier in the week Pidcock criticised the Élancourt Hill course for “not being mountain bike” and too much like a gravel course. Perhaps he spoke too soon.

Pinarello Dogma XC race bike similar to that ridden by Tom Pidcock

Currently Pidcock has worked his way back up to second place with just two laps to go. We’ll update this with the results when they come in.