The 23-year-old was making his Olympic debut in the French capital, racing at the elite level for the first time in 2024 after winning the World U23 title on home soil at Glentress last summer.
The Crieff rider made a magnificent start, and by halfway up the climb on lap one he was at the head of affairs, leading the way on the first descent, even building a small gap over the rest of the field before it all came back together through the start-finish line.
Measuring your effort would prove key on such a fast course, and with temperatures in excess of 32 degrees, riders would take bottles of water to pour over their heads through the double-sided mechanical zone each lap.
At the start of the third lap there was still a huge group of almost 20 riders in contention, Mathias Flueckiger of Switzerland pushing the pace, Aldridge’s British teammate Tom Pidcock glued to his back wheel. Aldridge meanwhile had settled into his rhythm and was sitting sixth, trade teammates Alan Hatherley of South Africa and Simon Andreassen of Denmark directly in front and behind.
The race had settled down for no more than 60 seconds when Pidcock threw down the gauntlet, a scorching attack on the second half of the climb on lap three stretching his rivals to his limit, only Frenchman Victor Koretzky able to go with him. Aldridge would remain cool, calm and collected, tagging on to the back of Hatherley, a group of three riders occupying third to fifth places, 12 seconds back from the two leaders.
Disaster struck for Pidcock on lap four as he suffered a front puncture, the only positive being he was remarkably close to the mechanical zone, but after a wheel change, he was almost 40 seconds in arrears of now lone leader Koretzky, the French crowd whipping themselves up into a frenzy! Aldridge meanwhile would remain well in the hunt for a medal, fifth at the halfway mark.
Lap five would see Charlie show his class, the youngster sprinting to take the lead in his group, which had now swelled with Pidcock and two further riders coming back to them, over the top of the climb, using his descending ability to stretch the group out.
Pidcock would go all-in on the climbs on lap six though in his bid to defend his Olympic title, a pace Aldridge couldn’t hold, leaving him to ride a lonely race in sixth place, still a brilliant ride on Olympic debut, especially coming in ranked 14th.
Pidcock would continue to force the pace, catching Hatherley and then Koretzky, that trio taking the bell together, making it a three-horse race for the medals. Aldridge continued to ride a great race, despite conceding two places after a small crash, as he sat eighth with a lap to go.
At the front, Pidcock tried everything to shake his rivals but couldn’t, the French fan’s favourite stealing a march into the final descent, but Pidcock wasn’t done. He regained the lead, only to lose it again with less than two minutes of racing to go.
The Yorkshire rider looked like he would have to come from behind in a sprint for the line, but with just two corners to go he divebombed his rival using a narrow inside line in the woods, a stunning racing move that would see him defend his title.
Back to Scotland’s rising star, Charlie Aldridge would finish off a great ride, a strong final lap seeing him home in eighth place.
Afterwards, Aldridge said:
“I enjoyed that – it hurt a lot though – type two fun for sure!
“I just cracked on off the start like I usually do – I find the starts fairly easy to be honest, so I just thought I’d get stuck in and be at the front. I was managing well fighting for bronze for a bit, but it was eighth in the end after a little crash, so I’m happy. I slid out on the penultimate lap – such a Charlie thing to do – the gravel here is terrifying!
“In some ways it was like any normal race, but with a lot less people in the field – but the level is so high and everyone was so quick – it was a hard race for sure! There were loads of Scottish fans out here, and my parents were here, so it was pretty special. I’m happy with that.”
Well done Charlie – a brilliant ride and we have no doubt the future is very bright.
Whilst the Olympics will continue in earnest over the coming days, the next Scottish interest in the cycling events comes on Monday 5th August, when Jack Carlin takes to the velodrome.