British mountain biker Thomas Pidcock won the gold medal in cross-country races at the Tokyo Olympics.

The 21-year-old prevailed on the Izu MTB Course after 28.25 km ahead of World Cup runner-up Mathias Flückiger from Switzerland.

David Valero from Spain took bronze just ahead of Rio Olympic champion Nino Schurter (Switzerland).

The Dutch co-favorite Mathieu van der Poel crashed early and had to drop out in the fifth of seven laps.

"I did not know that"

Veteran Manuel Fumic (Kirchheim / Teck) reached the 28th place in his fifth and last Olympic participation.

The 39-year-old World Cup runner-up from 2013 ended his career after the season.

Maximilian Brandl (Wombach) finished 21st.

The 26-year-old Van der Poel got stuck on the Sakura Drop with his front wheel on the first of seven laps and fell over his handlebars.

Van der Poel held his back and briefly continued the race before he had to give up.

The grandson of French cycling legend Raymond Poulidor had worn the overall leader's yellow jersey for six days at this year's Tour de France and got out before the ninth stage to prepare for the games in Tokyo.

The German duo was already knocked out on this situation.

Van der Poel criticized the course setting after his fall.

The Dutchman complained on Instagram on Monday that a ramp on the track had been removed after the last training run.

Under a picture showing the wooden structure, he wrote: "I was able to drive the track with my eyes closed, but I didn't know that they would remove this ramp on race day."

The 26-year-old fell violently at that point, and his hip was x-rayed in a hospital.

"Everyone who knows me well knows how hard I worked for this and how much I wanted it," wrote van der Poel.

All-rounder Pidcock, on the road as a professional under contract with the top team Ineos-Grenadiers, attacked at the end of the fourth lap and drove away from his main competitor Flückiger. In the battle of the four-man chasing group for bronze, Valero had the longer breath against the eight-time world champion Schurter, the French Victor Koretzky and Anton Cooper from New Zealand.