Tom Tom club
We’ve all had a heart-stopping moment like Tom Pidcock
There was a moment in the Olympic XCO mountain bike race when Tom Pidcock was faced with something we can all relate to – the rider in front makes a mistake and only the sharpness of your instinct and reflexes allow you to avoid a massive accident. The incident involved Pidcock’s rival, Mathieu van der Poel, trying to roll a ramp that wasn’t there, on the Izu mountain biking course’s Sakura rock drop, and going over the bars. Pidcock was right behind him, but sensed the impending crash and backed-off on the approach to give more room, which meant he could avoid the tumbling van der Poel and his bouncing Canyon. Women’s winner Jolanda Neff faced a similar situation in her race when Pauline Ferrand-prevot rolled the ramp (now reinstated) and baulked Neff at the last moment. In this case the Swiss racer managed to huck off the side of the ramp and hold on to the landing – testament to her DH skills. I can’t imagine training for four (or, in this case five) years only for a freak moment to potentially ruin your race. In both scenarios the champions showed their class, by staying cool and improvising a solution. That’s good practice for all of us as mountain bikers – being prepared for the unexpected. It also showed the importance of something fundamental to all the skills advice we’ve ever printed – looking ahead and staying loose.