Izu (Japan) (AFP)

21-year-old British hopeful Tom Pidcock became Olympic MTB champion at the Tokyo Games on Monday, after favorite Mathieu van der Poel retired after a heavy crash.

On the technical and nervous circuit of Izu, 140 km southwest of Tokyo, Pidcock beat the Swiss Mathias Flückiger and the Spaniard David Valero.

Disappointment on the French side since the first of them Victor Koretzky was classified fifth, after having struggled almost to the end for 3rd place, away from the first two.

Reigning world champion Jordan Sarrou, for his part, has never been able to play the leading roles, settling for 9th place.

"I did not manage to be in front at the start, then in the start loop (small starting loop) it put the foot down and we lost contact with the head," said Sarrou, who claims no not to have suffered the after-effects of his big fall on Saturday in training.

Koretzky said he was "satisfied with his performance".

"It's not gone far, I finished a few seconds before the medal (...) but I was just a bit today", he admitted: "I have no regrets, I I'm not as frustrated as I had been in Rio, where I couldn't express myself "because of a puncture in the race.

Pidcock, who succeeds the Swiss Nino Schurter in the list, confirms with this gold medal his status as a great hope for cycling across the Channel, which has two parallel careers, on road and on dirt tracks.

He won his first round of the MTB World Cup in the spring.

- "Born for mountain biking" -

"I think I was born to ride mountain biking. It sounds silly but that's what I've been doing since I was little and that's what I've always loved the most," he said. released, all smiles, on the evening of this victory in Nove Mesto, in the Czech Republic.

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In a heat of 30 ° C made painful by a humidity level of 67%, the young British champion broke away in the fourth of seven laps, after initially having wrestled neck and neck with Schurter, his 14 years old, and Flückiger, the man in form this season on the world circuit.

Flückiger, winner of the last two rounds of the World Cup before the Games, was the only one to hang on, and took the opportunity to widen the gap on the group that fought for the bronze medal.

Mathieu van der Poel, who arrived in the skin of a favorite after spending six days in yellow on the Tour de France, saw his hopes for medals ruined from the first of the 7 laps of the circuit.

The Dutchman, grandson of Raymond Poulidor, fell heavily on a rocky jump very committed.

Passed over his bike, he remained stunned for a few moments before getting back into the saddle, but a minute behind the leaders.

He finally gave up at the end of the 5th round.

Tuesday is the women's race, of which Loana Lecomte will be the favorite, with Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.

© 2021 AFP