Every four years the Olympic mountain bike race splits the usual racing season to create a before and an after. The months and years-long build up is full of pressure, speculation, and questions. This coming Sunday and Monday the athletes and fans will finally get answers to those questions of who will ride to medal performances in Paris.
There’s already been heartbreak. Tokyo gold medalist Jolanda Neff (Switzerland) has given up her spot in the race because of breathing problems. Earlier this season, Vlad Dascalu (Romania) was suspended by the UCI and his team for anti-doping whereabouts violations. Then there are those who missed selection, with field sizes only allowing for 36 women and 36 men to compete in the races, far smaller than the usual horde at a World Cup start.
When and Where to Watch
Women’s XCO – Sunday, July 28 at 14:10 CEST
Men’s XCO – Monday, July 29 at 14:10 CEST
- 🇺🇸 – NBC/Peacock
- 🇬🇧 – BBC/discovery+
- 🇪🇺 – Eurosport/discovery+
- 🇦🇺 – 9Now, Stan Sport
- 🇨🇦 – CBC, Fubo
The Track
The course is located at Elancourt Hill southwest of Paris, which at 231 meters is the highest point in the Paris region, according to the Olympic venue description. As with the Tokyo and Rio tracks, it’s the work of South African course designer Nick Flores.
Puck Pieterse posted an on-board video of the track from her pre-ride ahead of last summer’s test event, which shows a course largely made up of two climbs and two descents. While Elancourt’s dirt is more clay-based, the course surface is mostly made up of sandy gravel brought in for its construction, which may be firmer now after maturing for a year.
The course follows the formula of a fast, manicured surface dotted with man-made technical sections as we’ve seen in Olympics past. Christopher Blevins described it as similar to the first World Cup rounds in Brazil, and Evie Richards called it “punchy.”
It starts on a wide gravel surface that quickly veers to the right, with an off-camber inside line. After a left turn, the climbing begins with a quick rock garden before the climb narrows with some split lines and switchbacks, which still leave ample room for passing. Then it’s into the first downhill with flowy jumps, turns, and rock gardens which lead into a steep rock “waterfall” section. Line choice will be key.
At the bottom of the descent is the tech/feed zone, and then the course turns uphill again on forested singletrack – one of the few spots where the trail is on Elancourt’s natural surface instead of the imported gravel. There are some undulations on the way up to the top where the track widens as the riders crest the hill. Then the next descent features a large rock garden, an off-camber section, a log roll, and some more drops and jumps.
After passing the tech zone again, the course enters a rolling forested section that spits out onto a punchy roller just before the flat sprint to the finish line.
Women’s Contenders
The French have real chances of securing medals at their home Olympic Games in both the women’s and men’s fields. In the women’s race, the home nation will be represented by Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Loana Lecomte. Ferrand-Prévot has won just about everything, including last year’s World Championships, except for the Olympics. A win in Paris would be a storybook ending to her mountain bike career before she races on the road next season.
Lecomte has also earned strong results in recent years, including coming second to Ferrand-Prévot at worlds and winning the technical Switzerland World Cup last month. Lecomte has won on courses featuring longer climbs than what will be raced in Paris, but she also came away victorious on this course in last year’s test event, and the Frenchwoman will be feeling the home-country vibes.
If there’s one challenger to upset a French victory, my money would be on Puck Pieterse. The Dutchwoman’s story is well told at this point, emerging from the the U23 cyclocross ranks to multiple Mountain Bike World Cup wins last season. She raced a spring road calendar this year with Alpecin-Deceuninck before winning the Les Gets XCO and Switzerland XCC.
A rider who is used to lining up for big races is Sweden’s Jenny Rissveds, who is the gold medalist from the Rio games. Rissveds won the opening World Cup round in Brazil on a course that has been described as similar to the Paris course, and is consistently in the mix for the podium.
Similarly, Alessandra Keller (Switzerland) should never be ruled out. If the powerful rider isn’t off the front, she’s making tactical moves late in the race. The Tokyo women’s race was swept by the Swiss, and Keller could ride to another successful games for her country.
The United States is possibly bringing its strongest team ever and will be represented in the women’s race by Haley Batten and Savilia Blunk. Batten has proved multiple times over (including in Brazil in April) that she can win at the elite level, and Blunk is knocking on the door of a big win, with her best so far a 3rd place in Brazil this season.
Other riders to watch in the women’s field are Rebecca Henderson (Australia), Mona Mitterwallner (Austria), Laura Stigger (Austria), Blanka Vas (Hungary), Candice Lill (South Africa), Evie Richards (Great Britain), and Italy’s Martina Berta and Chiara Teocchi. The full entry list can be viewed here.
Star Rankings
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Puck Pieterse
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Loana Lecomte, Haley Batten, Alessandra Keller
⭐️⭐️⭐️: Jenny Rissveds, Savilia Blunk, Evie Richards
⭐️⭐️: Rebecca Henderson, Martina Berta
⭐️: Candice Lill, Laura Stigger
Men’s Contenders
In the men’s field, Tokyo champion Tom Pidcock (Great Britain) is still a five-star favorite. The versatile rider seems to win most of the mountain bike races he enters, including two World Cups this year and last year’s World Championships. He dropped out of the Tour de France two weeks ago with COVID-19, so there are some question marks about how that illness will impact him.
As mentioned above, the Swiss always bring a strong team, including Rio gold medalist Nino Schurter. Schurter has proved that despite being one of the older riders in the field, he’s not done winning yet, but there’s a crop of younger riders hell bent on making that difficult. Mathias Flückiger is the other Swiss entry. He has had some moments of brilliance this year and is always one to watch.
In the last month, South African Alan Hatherly has really stepped into his own with a double win in Les Gets. His form is clearly peaking at the right time, and I expect him to be in the lead group fighting for the medals.
French riders Victor Koretzky and Jordan Sarrou will be fighting for home-country wins. Both riders are experienced winners and will no doubt put on a show at the front.
Christopher Blevins and Riley Amos got the nod for the USA, bringing a mix of experience and young talent. Both from Durango, Colorado, Blevins is a couple years older than Amos and has won two elite World Cup XCO races including this year’s opening round in Mairipora, Brazil. He placed 14th in Tokyo. Amos was undefeated at the U23 World Cups this year before illness caused him to sit out Les Gets.
Finally, the Kiwi Sam Gaze is poised for a good performance. His second place at the world championships shows that he just might be able to challenge Pidcock.
Other riders in the men’s field to keep an eye on include Latvian Martins Blums, Luca Braidot of Italy, Charlie Aldridge (Great Britain), Germany’s Luca Schwarzbauer and Julian Schelb, Simon Andreassen (Denmark), Martin Vidaurre (Chile), and the Belgian duo of Jens Schuermans and Pierre de Froidmont.
Star Rankings
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Tom Pidcock, Nino Schurter
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Victor Koretzky, Christopher Blevins, Alan Hatherly
⭐️⭐️⭐️: Sam Gaze
⭐️⭐️: Charlie Aldridge, Jordan Sarrou
⭐️: Simon Andreassen, Martin Vidaurre
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