Get the drift: Olympic mountain bike racers worry about gravel on man-made Paris course

Puck Pieterse (Netherlands) previews the Olympic Games mountain bike course at Elancourt
Puck Pieterse (Netherlands) previews the Olympic Games mountain bike course at Elancourt (Image credit: Getty Images)

The Paris Olympic Games get underway this weekend with the women's and men's Mountain Bike Cross-country events taking place on a former landfill. The top competitors were mixed in their assessment of the Elancourt Hill course after their training runs this week, noting the loose gravel and fully man-made course differs from what inspired mountain biking as a sport.

Former Olympic champion Nino Schurter (Switzerland) voiced a unanimous assessment of the course.

Laura Weislo
Managing Editor

Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.

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