How to watch the Paris Olympics mountain bike cross-country
Everything you need to know about the 2024 Paris Olympic XC mountain bike cross-country, including who to watch.
[Words by Steve Thomas]
Summertime in Paris is always a special time but this year it will be just a little extra special, especially for sporting fans. Yes, the 2024 Paris Olympic Games are here, and the star events of the show (for us, at least) will, of course, be the XCO (formerly known as cross-country) mountain bike races.
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On the not-so-steep and wild slopes of Elancourt Hill, 36 women and 36 men will line up to do battle for the much-prized Olympic titles.
What, when and where?
The venue is located just a short distance from the Palace of Versailles, which is southwest of the city centre. Elancourt Hill was created from mining spoil, and at its highest point, it is 231 metres tall, making it the loftiest slice of land in the Paris region. The trails to be used for the races are 95% based on existing trails, which were tweaked and garnished some by South African trail builder Nick Floros and, naturally, this means that the 4.4km course, which has 110m of elevation gain per lap, will make this one ultra-fast and not too technically challenging race, which will be sure to keep the racing close, exciting and quite unpredictable right through, there will be little room for error here.
The women’s race is first up, at 13:10 pm on the 28 July, with the men following on at the same time on the 29 July.
The race distances will be determined just before the event and are based on the estimated lap timing, which could be influenced by weather conditions (which we guess will be dry and firm) but you should expect around 1.30-1.45 hours of racing in each event.
The race TV coverage and schedules are not 100% clear yet, and these will differ depending on where you are based. For UK viewers, the BBC is where you will catch the action and, although nothing is yet written, it’s widely expected that the coverage will be live, and there should also be a special Olympic Extra channel on the BBC iPlayer.
British contenders
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics (which happened in 2021, due to COVID-19) were a huge breakout occasion for the British mountain bikers, with Evie Richards finishing a fine 7th and Tom Pidcock taking gold, Britain’s first-ever Olympic MTB medal.
Thanks in no small part to their performances in the early 2024 World Cup races Britain was ranked eighth in both the men’s and women’s nation standings, meaning that they got the maximum two Olympic slots in each race, a first for the Brits.
Joining Evie Richards and Tom Pidcock in Paris will be Ella Maclean-Howell and Charlie Aldridge, who is having something of a fine flush of form right now.
Who to watch - women
Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, aged 32, France
The multi-talented French racer is the current World XCO Champion, and she’s had the Paris Olympic title at the top of her hit list for some time now. Given her great form in the spring World Cups, she must start as the clear favourite for the title race.
2024 ferrand prevot riding.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Like many of the prime contenders, Ferrand-Prevot has been absent from recent World Cups, honing her form for the home race elsewhere, and we expect she will be at her very best for this one.
Haley Batten, aged 25, USA
Hailing from the mountain biking paradise of Park City in Utah, Batten started her 2024 race season with a double XCC (short course) and XCO win in the Araxa round of the World Cup, and hasn’t been far from the podium ever since. We anticipate that she will be well and truly in the battle for a medal.
Puck Pieterse, aged 22, Netherlands
The flying Dutchwoman Pieterse is a phenomenal and hard-fighting racer with a strong cyclo-cross background, a gnarly combination which has earned her several XCC and XCO victories the past couple of seasons – and her skillset makes her a prime favourite for a medal in Paris.
Plus, with victory in Les Gets at the last round of the World Cup she’s proven that she is on fine form right now.
Hot on the heels
The women’s race will be very closely fought, as have been all of the World Cups so far this year. Many riders could well take victory over the big three; amongst them is, naturally our own Evie Richards, who is on good form, and if it all comes together on the day then she will well and truly be in the race for gold. Jolanda Neff would be near the top of our predictions list, but she’s been having a rough ride this season and is still suffering from respiratory issues.
Although she is selected to race, she has yet to confirm if she will be well enough to ride.
Also, well and truly in the thick of things we expect to see Alessandra Keller (SUI), Candice Lill (ZAF), Jenny Rissveds (SWE) and Savilia Blunk (USA).
Who to watch - men
Tom Pidcock, aged 24, Great Britain
Up until a few days ago, the current World and Olympic Champion Pidcock was anticipated to be the man to beat in Paris, having shown superb race-winning form in the European World Cup rounds as well as on the road.
2023 uci world champ xco pidcock 2.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Pidcock has taken an ambitious approach to Paris, racing MTB World Cups right up until the start of the Tour de France, where he went in with high hopes of stage wins and a solid overall placing. From the outside, it would appear that his form was not quite on the spot, and he left the race before it reached the high Pyrenean mountain stages, having shown COVID-19 symptoms.
His birthday is also the day after the race, and he is due to ride in the road race a few days after that. The best-case scenario is that it is not COVID-19 or that it’s a mild case, which could allow him to recover and be on form for Paris, which we anticipate he will do.
Nino Schurter, aged 38, Switzerland
Never count Nino Schurter out. How many times have we seen the absolute GOAT of XCO racing defy the odds and beat the best in the world?
2022 nino shurter WC win.jpeg, by Liam Mercer
Well, he won Olympic gold in Rio back in 2016 and has doubling up on that as a priority for some time, to match the tally of his nemesis Julian Absalon.
After a rough start to the season, Nino was back to his World Cup-winning ways in Val di Sole and has been focussing on his Olympic preparation in the past weeks, missing the last World Cup round. He did finish third in the Swiss Championships last weekend but we don’t think too much can be read into that given his focus and build-up schedule.
Victor Korektzy, aged 29, France
French racer Korektzy burst onto the global stage by becoming Junior XCO World Champion back in 2011 and has progressed to become a regular winner and podium finisher in both XCC and XCO and has been a rock solid performer so far this season.
A recent bout of COVID-19, followed by a crash has kept him out of the recent rounds of the World Cup but, all being well, he will be in top form for Paris, where he won the test event last year, all backed by a home crowd support and motivation.
Hot on the heels
There’s likely to be one heck of a battle royale in the men’s race, and there are a whole bunch of riders who could quite easily upset our predicted favourites.
Coming to peak form in the last round of the World Cup in Les Gets was South African Alan Hatherly, who had been kicking at the top shelf of the podium for a while, and who doubled in winning both the XCO and XCC races in what was the final big showdown race before Paris – this makes him a man to be feared at Elancourt.
Specialized_epic_Blevins_Roughedit-7675.jpg, by Suvi Loponen
American Chris Blevins is another rider who cannot be discounted in Paris, while his young teammate Riley Amos is also worth an each-way bet, given his total dominance of the U23 World Cup. Other solid contenders could include Mathias Fluckiger (SUI), Jordan Sarrou (FRA) and Simon Andreassen (DK).
