Victor Koretzky goes off trail in the Olympic men's mountain bike race.
Victor Koretzky goes off trail in the Olympic men's mountain bike race.

PARIS, France – The men’s mountain bike race at the 2024 Paris Olympics was one of the most exciting bike races we’ve seen in a long time. A gold medal seemed out of reach for defending champion Tom Pidcock of Great Britain after he got a flat with just around five laps to go, but he battled his way back to the front.

For the final few laps, he was engaged in a three way podium battle between Frenchman Victor Koretzky and South African Alan Hatherly, and by the last lap, it was a duel between British and French. A somewhat sketchy move by Pidock gave him the lead (begins at 3:00 in the video below) gave him the gold, leaving some upset with the results. But Koretzky made it very clear that a separate, earlier mistake is what really lost him the lead.

First of all, despite the booing from the French crowd as Pidcock crossed the line first, the contact between the two leaders was not intentional or illegal. Pidcock won the pass fair and square. But an earlier mistake, when the cameras were cut away and focused on Hatherly, gave Pidcock the lead earlier, and that’s what’s gaining attention as Koretzky’s losing moment.

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If you start the above clip at 1:20, you can see where this goes down. Koretzky is in the lead, Pidock is following a bit behind, and the camera lingers to show Hatherly pass. Then, as the camera cuts back to the two leaders, Pidcock is suddenly in the lead. You can’t tell what happened in the TV clip, but videos from fans make it pretty clear. Koretzky went off trail and was forced to unclip his shoe from his bike, causing him to lose momentum and the lead on Pidcock.

Nolan Deck is a writer for Unofficial Networks, covering skiing and outdoor adventure. After growing up and skiing in Maine, he moved to the Denver area for college where he continues to live and work...