Cycling
Tokyo Olympics: Britain's Tom Pidcock wins gold in men's mountain bike race
Tom Pidcock of Great Britain won the gold medal in the men's mountain bike race at Tokyo Olympics
Tom Pidcock won the Olympic men's mountain bike race with a dominant performance in the hilly countryside southwest of Tokyo on Monday, extending Britain's dominance from the road and track to the dirt.
Leaving reigning champion Nino Schurter and his Swiss teammate Mathias Flueckiger behind on the fourth of seven laps, the 21-year-old multidiscipline prodigy proceeded to dominate the toughest course in Olympic history.
Tom Pidcock (Source: Guardian Sport)
Flueckiger gave chase in vain and was left with a silver medal.
David Valero Serrano of Spain won a surprise bronze.
Pidcock, who splits time between the road and mountain biking, won the World Cup race at Nove Mesto earlier this year to become an Olympic favourite. But then he was hit by a car and broke his collarbone on a training ride, keeping him off a bike for about a week in June, and some wondered whether he'd have the same legs for the Tokyo Games.
Turns out they were even better.
