Tom Pidcock defied the odds to take his second consecutive mountain bike Olympic title, coming back from a puncture to secure his crown on the third day of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Scottish rider Charlie Aldridge showed the next generation of British talent, finishing in eighth place on a hot and dusty day at Elancourt Hill. 

Aldridge and Pidcock both powered off the start line, led out by South African rider Alan Hatherly who set a fiery pace in the first lap. The Scottish rider passed through the first split in third, with Pidcock chasing close behind in 11th, before Aldridge pushed on to lead on the descent at the end of lap one.

As the heat continued to ramp up, Aldridge and Pidcock were joined at the front by a group of hitters including Hatherley, Victor Koretzky (France) and Mathias Flueckiger (Switzerland) in the second lap. 

Koretzky, Flueckiger, Hatherley and Pidcock were clearly the strongest riders, with Pidcock moving into second, while Aldridge chased behind in 10th place.

Pidcock made his way to the front and put in one of his signature strong attacks, going clear up a short, sharp section before Koretzky and Flueckiger followed suit as the trio went clear in the third lap.

The British rider continued to push on, pushing hard on the technical descents, ending the third lap with a 10 second lead with Koretzky right on his wheel. Aldridge sat in fifth place pushing on the pedals behind.

Sudden disaster struck for Pidcock with a puncture in his front wheel, causing him to lose over 30 seconds and joining back into the pack in ninth place, while Aldridge moved up into fourth.

Determined to not let the mechanical slow him down, Pidcock attacked up the climb at the end of lap four, pushing through the rock garden to bridge over to Aldridge in fifth and sixth place, respectively.

The gap to the leader was growing, and the British guys had no time to waste, attacking off the front of the chasing group and working together to get away. 

At the start of lap six, Pidcock showed his pure power, putting down the hammer once again and pushing into third position with just 27 seconds between him and the French leader. He started to reel in Koretzky with Alan Hatherley (South Africa) on his wheel, getting into second place as the French rider started to fade with just 10 seconds between them.

Pidcock reached Koretzky, and fired straight past him, with the pair attacking hard on the descent to try and escape each other, as Hatherley remained just intact.

The British rider took the bell in the lead and continued to kick throughout the lap but was unable to drop the two riders on his wheel. The Frenchman attacked again, determined to make it a home mountain bike victory and opened up a small gap, but Pidcock continued to sprint hard out the saddle. 

Entering the final descent, Pidcock picked up the aggression, pushing past the French rider and firing off the front. Coming into the home straight, there was clear distance between Pidcock and Koretzky, and he raised his arms in elation to claim his second consecutive gold medal.

Speaking after his win, Pidcock said:

“It wasn’t easy. The Olympics is so special. It just shows why you never give up and give it everything, and I knew that’s what I had to do. I knew Viktor was going to be super fast in the last lap. Even if I couldn’t get rid of him, I knew I had to give him a big, big fight. He left a gap and I had to go for it and that’s racing. That’s what sport is about – not giving up. 

“You’re so used to things going so well, but my mechanic did a super fast change. My bike was perfect except for the puncture! I can’t thank everyone enough. Coming out the Tour [de France] with covid, and then having everyone around me, we just trained perfectly for this. It’s super nice to have my family and girlfriend here. Thank you to everyone."

Aldridge added:

"I just cracked on off the start, I'm happy with how it went. I find the starts fairly easy to be fair and then it catches up with me. I just thought I'd get stuck in and hit the front. I was managing well in bronze for a bit and I'm really happy. The gravel here is lethal, so I had a little crash near the end and hit the ground.

"The level was really high today and everyone was going so quickly. It was a hard race for sure but I'm really pleased with how I got on. There were loads of Scottish fans! I'm super happy."

The fourth day of competition takes cycling into the centre of Paris as defending Olympic champion Charlotte Worthington and Kieran Reilly compete in the BMX freestyle park qualifiers at Place de la Concorde.

You can watch on Discovery+ or BBC from 12:25 BST and follow the results on the British Cycling social media channels.