"My back wheel hit a rock at the bottom, and it just exploded" - Candice Lill looks back at her shocking mechanical during Olympic MTB race
Mountain Bike
Many pre-race favourites for an Olympic medal at the women's mountain bike saw their hopes vanish in crashes, mechanical problems and so on. Candice Lill was no exception as her ambitions were crushed in a shocking scene.
Speaking to Cycling Weekly after the event, Lill said she was "disappointed" with how the race played out. "I rolled down one of the steep roll-offs, and my back wheel hit a rock at the bottom, I think, and it just exploded," she explained. "I honestly don't know [the state of the wheel now]. The rim is completely cracked, so the wheel is not round anymore. I blew the tyre wall off the rim and everything."
"At first it was a shock. There was a big, loud noise, as well. I then had to get off my bike and start running," Lill continued. "I had to run down to the tech zone to change the wheel. It was not actually too far, but it takes time to change the wheel and everything and get going."
Naturally, she lost too much time to return to the mix for medals, let alone a good result. The South African managed to finish the race in 20th place, more than nine minutes behind winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. For the 32-year-old lady who came 2nd in the test event in Les Gets three weeks ago, this is not what she came for to Paris.
Lill, too, had hoped to be on the podium at the end of the day. "I wanted to shoot for a medal, for sure," the South African said. "I had a really good season coming into this with the mountain bike World Cups. It's a really disappointing day, a disappointing result, but I think, in a way, I know I did my best. I know I was here to fight for a medal, and I had the shape to do it, but it just didn't work out."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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