"That mistake cost me the gold medal" - Victor Koretzky does not blame Tom Pidcock's move for defeat at MTB Olympic Games

The Olympic Mountain Bike race on the men's side was incredibly dramatic and saw one of the most intense finales that could've taken place. In front of his home crowd, Victor Koretzky hoped to take the gold medal in front of Tom Pidcock but whilst on his very limit he made a mistake in the final lap which proved key to his defeat against the Briton.

Pidcock punctured during the race which could've easily ended his victory aspirations, but the Briton bounced back and returned to the head of the race. In the final lap the two were above the rest, Koretzky attacked and gained a small lead which could've earned him the win. But outside of the TV broadcast, he had a mishap on a descent which cost him a few seconds and saw him being overtaken. He regained the lead of the race then, but was within range of a daredevil move from Pidcock in the final minute of the race that proved to be moment which Koretzky could not come back from.

“I made a small careless mistake during the descent. My bike hit some gravel, and that mistake cost me the gold medal," he admits. He rode to a second place, a result of high value nonetheless, but was unable to bring in the gold medal as did his compatriot Pauline Ferrand-Prévot in the women's event.

A lot of people brought doubt into Pidcock's final move in which the two touched harshly after the choice of a different line from the Briton, but Koretzky did not fuel the fire of a possible dirty move, instead accepting it is part of the race and completementing his rival: “In the bit of woods, Pidcock touched me, and with that he unclipped my shoe. It was difficult to do anything after that, but he is a great champion.”