The Olympic Test, scheduled for this weekend (September 22 to 24) is an XCO race included in the UCI international calendar and organized by the Organizing Committee of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The purpose of this test is twofold, on the one hand, to check the safety conditions, logistics, accessibility, etc., of the circuit and on the other hand, the participants will be able to discover the route for the first time, since it has never been competed there before.
This race has very special conditions and although the UCI includes it in its calendar, no prizes or points will be distributed, there will be no distinction between categories by age. Only women’s and men’s races will be held in the absolute category, and participants will only be able to be on the starting line by invitation.
Each federation will have a number of invitations depending on the places they have currently obtained, but not all invitees will be able to compete in Sunday’s final. Some cyclists will only have the opportunity to go to training.
In total, cyclists from 42 nations will attend, 56 men and 57 women, and Sunday’s race will be held with the public. It is estimated that up to three thousand fans will attend.
The Olympic circuit
The Cross Country circuit for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where the Olympic Test will be held, is located on the Elancourt hill, the highest in the Yuelines department, in the Ile-de-France region, and is about 44 km north west of Paris.
The route, located at about 230 meters above sea level, has a route of 4.4 km per lap (2.2 km for the exit loop), accumulates a gradient of 110m per lap and has various technical areas such as rockgarden, jumps , etc.
At 231 meters, Elancourt Hill is the highest point in the Ile-de-France region. From its upper area you can see the Eiffel Tower. Although it is an important race, the truth is that there is still no information about the live broadcast of the Olympic MTB Test.
This race, being an Olympic event, is a very special test since in it we will see names that are not usually in top-level XCO races such as the World Cup and others who are ahead and will not be able to compete as they do not have square.
In any case, it will be a high-level race in which it will once again be difficult to choose a few favorites for victory. In the men’s race we will see, in the absence of officially confirming the selections, the return of important names such as Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands), Sam Gaze (New Zealand) or the current World Champion and defender of the Olympic title Tom Pidcock (United Kingdom). To them we must add the current favorites of any race, such as Nino Schurter and Mathias Fluckiguer (Switzerland), David Valero (Spain, Vlad Dascalu (Romania), Jordan Sarrou and Victor Koretzky (France) or Luca Schwarzbauer (Germany).
In women, the French Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and Loana Lecomte start as top favorites due to their level and status as locals, but not fighting for victory will be such important names, such as Puck Pieterse (Netherlands), Alessandra Keller (Switzerland), Mona Mitterwallner (Austria), Martina Berta (Italy or Evie Richards (United Kingdom). Nor should we forget the current Olympic champion Jolanda Neff (Switzerland) who, although she is not having her best season, already knows what it is like to win an Olympic gold.
After the Olympic Test, the XCO season will head towards the American continent to compete in the last two events of the World Cup in the USA and Canada.
PROGRAMMING
Friday, September 22
14:00-18:00 Official training XCO Women and Men
Saturday September 23
10:00 – 11:00 Official XCO training only Women
11:00 – 12:00 Official training XCO Women and Men
13:30-16:00 Official XCO training only Men
Sunday September 10
10:00 – 11:00 Official XCO training only Women
12:30 – 13:30 Official training XCO Women and Men
13:00 – 14:30 Olympic Test XCO Women
15:00 – 16:30 Men’s XCO Olympic Test