Great Britain’s Tom Pidock isn’t sorry for spoiling Victor Koretzky’s chance at gold. Kortzky, who competes for France, led most of the men’s mountain bike race on Monday and looked to be in control of the finish in front a large pro-France crowd. That is, until the final kilometer of the race when Pidcock charged ahead. 

Pidcock had spent most of the second half of the race clawing back from a popped tire on Lap 4. It looked like Pidcock would run out of room to overtake Koretzky, but that’s when the reigning Olympic champion made a daring move.

He took a narrow line in the last part of the forest track, different from Koretzky, and when the two came back together, the Frenchman’s wheel was even with the middle of Pidcock’s bike. Koretzky didn’t have enough space to react, and his left side briefly touched Pidcock’s bike. Koretzky had to unclip his foot and briefly touch the ground to avoid what would have been an even more devastating fall. The small bobble was enough to separate the two riders. 

Pidcock looked ecstatic when he crossed the finish line to a raucous level of boos from the French crowd expecting to cheer for their countryman. Conversely, Koretzky looked gutted when he crossed the line. Pidcock finished the race nine seconds ahead of Koretzky with a time of 1:26:22.

The move won Pidcock the gold; without it, he likely would’ve run out of space to overtake Koretzky. Immediately after the race, Pidcock defended the move, saying, “What I'm feeling right now is a bit all over the place. All I know is that I did whatever I could in that race to win.”

He did acknowledge the crowd wasn’t happy about it. “The French crowds are incredible," he said. "Obviously, they're very patriotic for the French. Not so much for me."

Pidcock and Koretzky briefly touch during the men's mountain bike final.

NBC Olympics

After the race, Koretzky explained the move from his point of view. "(There was) some gravel on the track, and I took some with my front wheel and I lost a part of the gap I had on Tom. I’m really disappointed, this mistake cost me the gold medal. In the woods, he overtook me and took my shoe off, it was difficult to do something at this moment". 

Koretzky didn’t mince words when he doubled down on his sentiment that without the move, he would’ve beaten Pidcock. "He was very strong, he really is a great champion, but I think I could have beaten him today."

He did go on to add that the incident was “part of the race.” The mountain bike judges did review the final pass and ruled that nothing wrong was done.

In the end, Koretzky hopes that time will heal all wounds. "I’m a bit disappointed, but satisfied at the same time," he said. "There’s a lot of work behind this, many sacrifices, many moments far from home. To have a silver medal is already a beautiful reward. I’m struggling to enjoy but it might come quickly. ... That’s awesome, we all dream about the Olympics.”

The back-to-back champion knew he had to go big or risk going home without the gold. 

"I knew how fast he was on the last lap. In the end I just had to go for a gap," Pidcock said.

"That's what I've always done. The Olympics is no different. I'm sorry for him, the support for him is incredible but it's the Olympics, you've got to go all in. I did nothing wrong."

The gold medal was a perfect early birthday gift for the rider who will turn 26 on Tuesday.