Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Tom Pidcock says ‘I’m always better when I take control’

Tom Pidcock says he wanted to take control early in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics mountain bike event, as he took gold on his debut in the games.

The 21-year-old from Leeds in Yorkshire attacked his rivals 44-minutes into the 80-minute event, riding away from Switzerland’s Mathias Flückiger and never looking back.

Pidcock’s route to the Tokyo Olympics was far from straight forward, as he only qualified for the games in May, before suffering a broken collarbone shortly after when he was hit by a car while training. 

Despite the uncertainty, Pidcock delivered a confident performance on Monday (July 26) to secure gold, as his main rival Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) was forced to abandon after an early crash.

Pidcock said: “It’s nothIng like any other race. The Olympics just transcends any sport. You compete and represent your country and everyone in your country is behind you, no matter what sports they like.

“It’s just national pride, it’s unbelievable.” 

Pidcock’s decisive attack came on the third lap of the seven-lap race, as he dropped the Swiss duo Nino Schurter and Mathias Flückiger to fly away on the course, winning by 20 seconds over Flückiger after an hour and 25 minutes of racing. 

>>> Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games cycling schedule: when to watch the racing

He added: “It's been a such a hard time coming here from crashing and breaking my collarbone [in May] and that's just unbelievable.

"I'm always better when I take control myself. I take my own lines, my own speed. Once we started I was fine, all the nerves kind of went and I concentrated on the race. I'm happy this [the Olympic Games] is only every four years because it's stressful.

"I know that my mum and girlfriend are crying at home. It's sad that they can't be here but I see them when I get home."