Kiwi mountainbike gold medallist Sam Gaze has apologised to team-mate Anton Cooper after accusing him of poor sportsmanship following their race at the Commonwealth Games on Thursday.

"I have caught up with Anton and apologised personally," Gaze said in a statement, "but I wanted to let the NZ Team here on the Gold Coast and the NZ public know that I acted in the heat of the moment and will work on making sure this type of action doesn't happen again."

Gaze avenged his loss to Cooper in the same race at the 2014 Glasgow Games cross-country race, producing a stunning final lap comeback to claim gold at the Nerang Mountainbike Trails on the Gold Coast on Thursday afternoon.

GETTY IMAGES Samuel Gaze (left) and Anton Cooper share an awkwardly tense moment after they won gold and silver respectively in the men's mountainbiking.

He had to enter the pits to fix a puncture on his rear tyre heading into the last lap, with Cooper attacking immediately.

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GETTY IMAGES Gold medallist Sam Gaze celebrates his win over Anton Cooper on Thursday.

Gaze was photographed showing his middle finger to Cooper as the latter shot off up the hill, but got back on his bike an angry man and somehow clawed his way back in just half of the final 4.5-kilometre lap, setting up a thrilling finish. Cooper then tried to attack him, but Gaze mowed him down and elbowed his way past on a descent before winning the sprint finish.

It was the initial attack on the last lap which had Gaze riled after the race.

"There is good sportsmanship and there's not, and I feel like that wasn't there today," Gaze said.

GETTY IMAGES Kiwi mountainbiker Samuel Gaze jumps during his Commonwealth Games race on Thursday.

"It's a bit of a shame really, I've got the utmost respect for the guy, still, even with that move.

"That's racing, you can't get along with everyone."

When asked if getting back to win the race after the incident was satisfying, Gaze replied: "The good guys always win".

GETTY IMAGES New Zealand's Sam Gaze leads the way early in the men's cross-country mountainbike race on Thursday.

Later on Thursday evening, he apologised for his comments in a Facebook post, saying his emotions had got the better of him.

"I'm a competitive guy and when I had that issue with my bike I thought my dream was over. I reacted badly and want to apologise for my words and my actions. I am really embarrassed for how I acted and how the impact of how special of a day it was for New Zealand Cycling was tainted by my actions.

"I respect Anton and his ability to race hard and fast and I regret the way that I spoke right after the race. He is an incredible rider and together we put on a really exciting race today. I was proud that we could finish one-two again like we did in Glasgow and am grateful for the talent we are growing in New Zealand.

GETTY IMAGES An early Kiwi 1-2-3 developed as Ben Oliver, left, led Sam Gaze and Anton Cooper .

"I have caught up with Anton and apologised personally, but I wanted to let the NZ Team here on the Gold Coast and the NZ public know that I acted in the heat of the moment and will work on making sure this type of action doesn't happen again. Thanks for everyone's support. I am sorry that my actions have affected the public's view of how really special these Games have been."

In the immediate aftermath of the race, silver medallist Cooper also produced the "that's racing" line to describe the dramatic conclusion, but didn't think it was a case of bad sportsmanship.

"I didn't know what was happening. I saw he pulled in there and thought it was quite odd because it seemed like he had all the air in his tyre, I'd followed him all the way down the downhill, so I thought it can't be a puncture and thought something must have drastically gone wrong.

GETTY IMAGES Ben Oliver leads Samuel Gaze early in the mountainbike race.

"It's not my job to sit around and wait at that point, that's mountainbike racing, and I thought at that point I was going to have to get rid of South Africa if I wanted a chance at winning so I dropped the hammer up there."

In road racing, if a leading rider has a puncture mid-race the peloton will often slow up to wait for them, but Cooper said no such etiquette existed in mountainbike racing.

"There's nothing like that. I can't think of a situation where anyone would sit and wait. If someone has a mechanical issue, that's rider-error. It's the same as making a poor line choice, it's just part of the game.

GETTY IMAGES Kiwi Samara Sheppard was ninth in the women's cross-country mountainbike race at the Commonwealth Games.

"You have to nurse your bike home and you have to have the good legs to get the job done. That's life."

Cooper went on to say he did show sportsmanship when Gaze passed him on the last lap.

"I tried to gradually come across to make him come around the outside, but he got across in the sticks and leaves and managed to get his way through there. There was not more I could've done without actually pushing him into the trees, which wouldn't quite be right."

Their Kiwi team-mate Ben Oliver spent the early stages of the race in a front group of four with the pair and bronze-medal winner South African Alan Hatherly. He eventually fell away to finish in fourth.

Oliver had surprisingly won the sprint off the startline, but Gaze was quick to take over as Cooper chased.

The front four of Gaze, Cooper, Hatherly and Oliver stayed together until the end of the third of seven laps, at which point Oliver was dropped.

Gaze and Cooper both took turns to put the pressure on through the fifth lap, but they were unable to drop Hatherly. Oliver had dropped to 39 seconds behind by the end of the lap as his hopes of a medal faded.

Gaze missed two water bottles during the run and said he was trying to conserve energy through the race as he still has the road race to come on Saturday.

That almost backfired on him when the final-lap dramatics played out, but he pulled the result out in the end.

That gold was helped by Hatherly, who had been dropped by Cooper after his attack, giving up his chance at silver by allowing Gaze to pass as soon as he caught him on the final lap.

"He showed good sportsmanship and I'm really grateful for that. Without that I wouldn't have been on the top step."

Meanwhile, Samara Sheppard's day was ruined before it really got going. She had a puncture on the first lap of the women's race and had to change her back wheel. She would eventually finish ninth, more than five minutes behind the winner, England's Annie Last.

RESULTS

Men

Sam Gaze: 1st

Anton Cooper: 2nd

Ben Oliver: 4th

Women

Samara Sheppard: 9th