6 things the 2024 Olympics taught us!

July 2022. Lenzerheide/Switzerland. Nino Schurter vs. Mathias Flückiger. A day that will remain in the memory of many XCO fans: The two Swiss racers crashed spectacularly into each other a few hundred meters from the finish when Flückiger overtook him. This was barely visible in the live broadcast at first, but suddenly the Italian Luca Braidot came out of the magic forest first and won his first World Cup in the sprint to the finish ahead of Alan Hatherly (RSA). Flückiger finished third, Nino only fourth due to Flückiger's action and shouted at the finish, among other things, “You are not normal”, was angry and angry, and the majority of the scene also saw “Math” responsible for the unnecessary crash. Stress between the Swiss instead of a Swiss double victory. Flückiger was not disqualified or punished.

Something similar, although not quite as radical, happened in the final lap of the men's Olympic XCO race. Frenchman Victor Koretzky is in the lead, with defending champion Tom Pidcock lurking at his rear wheel, practically waiting for the leader to make a mistake so he can overtake him. Like Flückiger two years ago, Pidcock uses a different line to Koretzky a few seconds before the finish line and “overtakes” or “drives into” him from the side. Victor Koretzky almost lands in the next tree, loses his stride and has to unclip. He loses important meters – and the gold medal he was aiming for. Pidcock also goes unpunished. The cycling bubble is once again busy discussing the controversy, but this time mostly in favor of the “accused”. One user writes on Instagram: “Pidcock's overtaking maneuver was a bit borderline, but also incredibly cleverly placed.”

So one thing is clear – whether in the World Cup or at the Olympics: you have to show a strong fight in cross-country, exploit even narrow gaps and make full use of tactics if you want to win.

Another strange situation occurred in the women's race. The Dutch team around fourth-placed Puck Pieterse lodged an appeal because Haley Batten drove through the “pit lane” without accepting a bottle, which is a rule violation, but it was not upheld. Batten only had to pay a fine of 500 CHF and received her well-deserved silver medal. We are certain that if you had asked Jenny Rissveds, the person directly “affected” and still in third place, she would not have wanted to move up a place because of such a faux pas.