Sam Gaze has turned in a typically courageous ride in the men’s cross-country mountain biking, but could not bring home a medal.
After a gruelling 1 hour 28 minute ride at the Elancourt Hill course, west of Paris, he had to settle for sixth on Monday (Tuesday NZ Time).
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Gaze was looking for a big Olympic performance to cap off a stellar career that includes two Commonwealth Games gold medals. On a tough, demanding course, he looked well on target after five laps of the eight-lap race.
The 28-year-old Kiwi had a difficult start when he was squeezed on the first corner and found himself back in the pack early on, having lost more than half-a-minute on the leaders. He gradually worked his way through the field – 16th after the first lap and 14th after the second.
After three laps he was eighth and when he had slotted into fourth at the halfway point, things looked promising. The question was: had his brilliant ride through the field taken too much out of him for the decisive final laps?
In the end, Gaze was not able to match the leaders and did not have the strength left to challenge for a medal.
“I gave it everything I had,” said Gaze. “I had a horrible start but got back into a position where I thought a medal was a possibility.
"The race was ridiculously fast and I just didn’t have it when the pressure went on near the end, even though I put everything I had into it.”
The race was won by Briton Tom Pidcock in 1:26.22, who suffered a puncture mid-race and had to work his way back to the leaders. Victor Koretzky of France finished nine seconds behind for silver, and South African Alan Hatherly was third.
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