Candice Lill's dreams of an Olympic mountain bike medal were shattered in a freak incident during the opening laps of the race in Ãlancourt, France. The South African rider suffered a catastrophic failure of her rear wheel, leaving her unable to compete for a podium finish.
Lill explained that as she descended a steep section of the course, her back wheel struck a rock, causing the rim to crack in two places. "The rim is completely cracked, so the wheel is not round anymore," she said. "I blew the tyre wall off the rim and everything."
The sudden and loud noise of the incident left Lill in shock. She was forced to dismount and run to the technical zone to change her wheel, losing valuable time in the process. By the time she got back on her bike, the lead pack was long gone, and any hope of a medal was out of reach.
Despite the setback, Lill completed the race, finishing in 20th place. "It's a really disappointing day, a disappointing result," she said. "I wanted to shoot for a medal, for sure. I had a really good season coming into this with the mountain bike World Cups. I know I was here to fight for a medal, and I had the shape to do it, but it just didn't work out."
Lill, who had achieved two podium finishes at UCI World Cup events earlier in the season, described the wheel failure as an "unusual" incident. "In the past, I was racing Cape Epic with a teammate that had happened to, so I have seen it before," she said. "It's just bad luck."
Despite the heartbreaking end to her Olympic ambitions, Lill remains a strong contender in the world of mountain biking, and will undoubtedly be back in action looking for a podium finish in future competitions.
