What BBC channel is the Olympic mtb on?

It didn’t have to be hidden by trees but the course could have had different routes in section made more technical where some of the most skilful riders could have taken advantage making it more exciting to watch

I though it was suitably technical – you could see the bounce in their arms on the ‘smooth sections’
– all it needed was a ‘wall’ on the side of the big tree to make a ‘jump overtake’ section 🙂

I dare say a lot of the road riders could have placed highly on that course without having the ability to climb or descend tricky sections.

You’d be wrong. A couple maybe, but those that already have the skills. I’ve raced the course and it’s as tech as you’d need when your HR is sky high and you’ve been practically sprinting for an hour and a half. The TV cameras struggle to pick up the steepness of the drops or all the little bits that got to make up the course. Yes, there were some smooth bits but I don’t think you need it a rockfest everywhere just to make them good.

Q: How many DNF ?

Edit – 2 out of 30

Good thing about XC is that you have to have the lungs as well as the skill, and to my mind that makes it more of a sport than DH for example (not a stab at DH just an example).

I find men’s diving the most boring, but hey that’s just my opinion.

edit: don’t think the course is easy if Spitz managed to crash, as well as a few others 😉

Course is 90% blue grade route and 10% red.

Not technical enough, the rock gardens have smooth paved lines with rocks jumbled around. Looked ok on tv, but got bit bored with it.

It will be open to the public, perfect for the family.

It will be open to the public, perfect for the family.

Some of the rocky bits are getting sanitized before they let IT managers on it though

Hopk1ns – Member
Course is 90% blue grade route and 10% red.
Not technical enough, the rock gardens have smooth paved lines with rocks jumbled around. Looked ok on tv, but got bit bored with it.
It will be open to the public, perfect for the family.

+1

It was safe and not very challenging probably to increase the speed of the event.

How utterly predictable and equally disappointing that the ‘It’s not gnarly’ crowd have come out to play.

It’s not what you do, because you don’t race at elite level…

how many dnf?

Only 2!

Craigxxl, have you actually been to the venue? In fact, were we watching the same race? There are about 6 technical sections in the lap that have two or three option lines. Long, easier lines and short but harder options.

A lot of people seem hard to please on this place. Best xc event I’ve watched on a screen. I’d love to give it a whirl but not at their speed.

Not been since I’m in Leeds and wouldn’t travel that far to ride around a gravel path in a park. There is plenty of those around here where I can leave the main route and take a more challenging ride through a slippy tight natural climb. Following the leader on TV you didn’t see anything challenging just dull, wide hard packed gravel with some man made obstacles with obvious routes through. I didn’t expect or want to see 100% technical course but did want to see the non tech parts to have been more natural terrain rather than a man made path. After watching that event nothing would make me want to travel down to ride the course as most of it was dull

i agree and disagree with many of the comments, but can not let this one slide….

none-mountainbikers

NON-[/i]mountainbikers!!!! not NONE-. NON-!!!

They could have made it harder ,and much slower .Winner averages about 19kph would you rather it was a trials course at 4kph ?.Its XC on XC race bikes not playing in woods with your fat mates on 160mm forks

Edric 64 😆

I blame too much MBUK for this “not gnarrcore enough” attitude 😈

After watching that event nothing would make me want to travel down to ride the course as most of it was dull

I suspect it’s a hell of a lot harder than you think. Try watching the weekend warriors Go Pro shots of the Slab at Dalbeattie etc. Several sections of the Olympic course looked a lot harder than that.

Also why do you think that a XC race should be technical? The clue is in the title is a XC race. Not a trials course, not a DH course. This is what short course XC racing is. Not trail centres. I think 170m of climbing in a 4km circuit should give you a clue that it’s not easy.

And speed is what makes it hard. These riders are going about twice the speed that any of us could do it. Ride round Brands Hatch on a motorbike at 50mph and it’ll be dull. Do it at 100mph and it gets anything but.

Who’s never raced elite? What are you on about?

It’s also very predictable that the roadie types would like that course. We are all different and that what keeps the world interesting.

It’s a very smooth track with a few rocks laid out in paved lines with rocks jumbled around. Personally one lap and I’m sure I’d be bored.

It doesnt matter if you find it boring or not .Do you think the girls on the podium minded whether it was interesting or not ? .They raced hard for 1 1/2 hours on a hot day to win medals .It doesnt say on the back of the medal this counts for sod all because singletrack didnt like the course

I can’t believe that people are daft enough to say that its not technical when they are judging it by the tv pictures…..we all know how much the camera appears to flatten terain out. Whether or not you find it boring is irrelavant though really…..what’s more boring than watching a TT-everyone was pretty chuffed for Brad though!

It was a boring man made course. Not saying it wasn’t hard physically on some of the climbs but it also had as much to come downhill too with it been a loop. There is no denying the majority of the course was wide gravel paths requiring no technical skills what so ever other than being able to balance on a bike, pedal and have level of fitness.

Not taking anything away from the racers, they’ll race on the tracks provided to an elite and pro way.

Didn’t aim to offend anyone, on here just think it could have been a little better. Been competing in this sport for 24 years in every discipline going and think with the level of tech now in bike designs the courses should have developed further

Xc racing is great and so is dh, 4x etc.

They are worthy Olympic champions who were the fastest around the course provided, but it could have been better (in my opinion)

Xc racing is great and so is dh, 4x etc.

It doesnt say on the back of the medal this counts for sod all because some tragic bellend that uses the singletrack forum didnt like the course

ftfy

Thing is though craig, these guys/gals ride the downhills just as hard as the uphills, sprinting after any slowing down etc. I raced last year in the sport category (mid pack at best) and even with my crap skills and average fitness, I can’t remember a race where on the decents my heart rate dropped more than a couple of bpm.

Have you ever raced an xc race?

It looked fairly technical from where we were standing at the bottom of the rock garden. Could really tell who was confident technically and who wasn’t. The serface was very loose in front of us, and took out the Austrian woman. I’m looking forward to watching it on th tv later to see how it compares.

Bol, I’d really like your feedback as watching it on TV it appears to be mainly a safe gravel path. Some more technical parts could have made the more skilful riders take advantage to make it a more allround race

More technical stuff would have spaced out the field even more, not created anymore of an all round race…

bunch of miserable gits.

looks a lovely ride some bumpy bits, some swoopy bits a few short sharp climbs, some sunshine, if it had a pub it could be perfect

#rather-be-riding-my-bike

I’ll accept that the TV coverage didn’t show every last metre of the course and that it largely concentrated on the leading trio so to those people who’ve not been to the venue or seen much elite level XC in general, it may have painted a slightly one sided picture.

I was at the test event and you’re able to see large parts of the course from just a couple of vantage points so it’s easy to see how different riders are taking different sections. Being close up to them shows just how hard they’re working and how much they’re suffering. The course demands 100% concentration throughout, I can guarantee you that it is way harder than it looks on TV. One tiny mistake and you can lose massive amounts of time or really hurt yourself.

XC racing is notoriously hard to televise. Put it on singletrack in a forest and spectators can’t move around, viewers can’t see anything and its rubbish. Put it on a wide open lovely amphitheatre setting and it’s brilliant for spectators but looks dull on TV (even though that was some of the best televised XC I’ve seen). And, ad has been discussed in the hundreds of other threads from cynics and muppets who know nothing about XC, it’s the Olympics. The course HAS to have a certain minimum and maximum width, be between 3.5 and 5 km in length, have x metres of climbing, a certain number of technical sections, some open stuff etc etc. That course delivered on all counts.

I can think of maybe 3 regular forum users who could even come close to riding that course dab free (on any bike) at the speed those girls were doing.

It seems all the “elite xc” riders are jumping on the back of anyone questioning it and labelling them fat i.t consultants. Say what you like about cameras flattening things out but it’s quick obviously not a very technical track, not even by XC standards. Any way you cut it, it was a sanitised, not very technical track. Even xc mtb should be technical enough so that it’s not just a test of cardio. Road is over that way >>>

Mont Saint Anne

La Bresse

Pietermaritzburg

So how about helmet or bar cameras, I guess they’d all have to have one or a dummy box of the same weight, but that might show it better. Still think the Beeb(if it was them) have done a good job on it, just a bit too much aerial view flattens the perspective.

As soon as it’s open to the public,I think there should be an STW posters event. It would be great to see how fast some people are on that boring gravel course.I suspect that a lot of them would lack enough orifices to breathe out of. 🙂

So if they make it more radgnarr the riders carry the bikes? Yeah, that’ll look good to the average spectator with no mtb experience…

Maybe they should have an all mountain Olympic race, with hills to push up and similar judging to the synchronized swimming for styling it up and being adequately radical…

Would I be right in saying that the course was gravely to avoid a mud bath, if it rained?

Even xc mtb should be technical enough so that it’s not just a test of cardio.

a bit like the photo posted by muckytee.. which makes your photo’s look a bit mincey..?

Have you ever raced an xc race?

You gotta wonder, most of this lot would be stopping to drop their saddles at first sight of a rock/slope…

I suspect the Tv coverage missed lots of crashing and running as it concentrated on the leaders who were making it look easy (because they were in the lead!). I spectate at lots of XC races and the best are ‘races’ where there are groups of riders who stick together rather than big gaps like this one. Still more interesting than watching a tdf stage mind…

yunki

a bit like the photo posted by muckytee.. which makes your photo’s look a bit mincey..?

Does it? Does it really? A tiny drop off on mild downward gradient as opposed to steep off camber rocks and rock gardens?

Did anyone else see any rounds of the UCI XC world cup this year? The same criticism being leveled at the Olympic track just doesn’t apply which tells you something.

I don’t think it was the best possible showcase for xc. Like it or not people can and will have opinions and guess what, they might express them on a forum.

Does it? Does it really?

err, yes.. I certainly think so anyway

especially when you look into the distance, where there appears to be a rock garden to at least equal the rocky sections in your pics..

maybe there’s not quite so much moss though..?

EDIT: actually, having compared the shots again, I would say that your photo’s rather support the olympic course’s gnarliness

here’s an unrelated photo to add confusion 😀