Want to watch Olympic mountain biking but not sure when it's on and who's racing? Here's a brief guide to everything you basically need to know. Tom P ...
By ben_haworth
Get the full story here:
https://singletrackmag.com/2024/07/how-to-watch-olympic-mountain-biking-this-sunday-monday/
I didn't realise there was no xcc this time. Also, I get that it's hard to find a great course close to Paris but it's a shame the biggest event in the sport is so far removed from the reality of xc.
Especially as surfing is being held in Tahiti.
I'll have to catch the Sunday race on iPlayer cos I'm out all day.
Should be able to see the Monday event live.
Looks a tough course!
Did the spellchecker not work for riders names?
So much gravel!
What happened to Puck Pieterse? Can't see her in the women's list
it’s a shame the biggest event in the sport is so far removed from the reality of xc.
This gets dragged out at every Olympics. I worked on the London Test Event (for STW actually, did a news story and some pics on it) and that was off the back of long threads on here about how it should be held at Glentress / CyB / Llandegla / insert trail centre of choice, how Essex didn't have mountains, how it wasn't "proper XC" (although there was no real agreement about what "proper XC" was and I remember one comment suggesting that if Olympic riders had to stop around a gate and eat pasties every 10 minutes, it'd be just as representative of STW-approved "proper XC" as any other definition...)
There are rules and regulations about the course - width of startline, number and severity of technical sections, amount of climbing per lap, weatherproofing (as near as reasonably possible) plus factors like where do the spectators and TV cameras view it from, pit zones, medical and safety facilities - it basically means that, just as with athletics and swimming, you need to build a facility which encompasses that.
Ideally one which stays in place afterwards and becomes a community cycling centre. Interestingly (in spite of many comments from armchair athletes on here about how they could nail the Olympic course one handed), the Hadleigh Park course had to be substantially dumbed down after the Olympics and that usually happens with every course. You're right in that respect, they're not "proper XC". They're WAY too hardcore for most riders to attempt.
I will go against the grain of many of the opinions of the course.
Yes, there are a lot of wider sections - but surely that is what needed for a race, where by several orders of magnitude, more people will watch on television. I like the more technical features on an XC course, none of them look worse than what you would find on an XC trail on a black section or loop* - so I am not quite sure how it isn’t representative of modern XC.
I understand it’s not being held in a far more mountainous section of France, but they do a lot with the elevation they have and mountain biking athletes can get to be a part of the Olympic village.
I would definitely ride it - but not make a special trip to visit.
*Although most riders I have encountered at XC trail centres in the UK, usually avoid the more technical routes.
My cynical side assumed the course would be custom built by the Frenchies to suite PFP so she could win her "missing" medal before bowing out of MTB. Although her recent form suggests she probably doesn't need much help.
I’ll have to catch the Sunday race on iPlayer cos I’m out all day.
Does anyone know where the Olympics catch up is on iPlayer, cos I can't find it? There's been a few football games I'd like to watch, but nothing appears available on iPlayer not even games that I think had been shown live on the red button.
Well, Pidcock doesn't seem too impressed.
Does anyone know where the Olympics catch up is on iPlayer
BBC is limited in what it can show live and on iPlayer, since the tv rights got sold to discovery.
a subscription to discovery+ is only 3.99 pm at the moment though.
@gavinb. I must have been getting confused with the world champs.
@crazy-legs. In my defence, I never mentioned 'proper' xc. I was really comparing with other courses on the world cup circuit rather than my Sunday afternoon ride. Like I say, I understand the reasons behind it but there's no getting away from the fact that the course isn't as good as a world cup course.
Is Tom (and Evie) getting the 'reasons' lined up in case they don't win gold already?
Can't argue with the reasons, but this is the Olympics, the course for the Olympics is always heavily man-made as it is meant to be in an accessible place with a lot of factors to consider. Trail centres aren't great places for all the other factors to readily get positioned.
I'm sure both will do very well, would be great for 2 golds, but they are experienced racers, so despite them wanting more technical courses, I'm sure they'll be able to get cracking as soon as the race starts!
Looks like a good xc course to me, looking forward to them both.
Its not being shown on iplayer - you can listen to coverage on radio 5 live. Looks like Discovery is the only way to actually watch the race.
Argh … I can’t find it on Discovery … what is it titled as?
Does anyone know where the Olympics catch up is on iPlayer, cos I can’t find it?
Ditto, just pressed the red button and all it seems to have is swimming and pony club... FFS!
Nothing cycling related on Eurosport either at the minute, even with the extra channels they've laid no.
BBC1 coming up!
Coverage has sort of started just now on Eurosport 2
It’s about to start on the main iPlayer channel
Got it on iPlayer, just started!
The rider with the biggest chainring might win?
Looks like a nice course.
Needs more drone footage!
Good course though, some hardcore technical sections.
Agree the course does look good. I’d have broken a collarbone, wrist etc very early into the first lap.
It looks properly fast.
Were they ice(?) shirts shown being worn by some riders at the start?
I’ve currently got an advert break on the Discovery channel - I thought the big banner on the Home Screen said no adverts?
BBC 1 don't have no adverts!
It's not like one quick advert either. Oh well flick to BBC join the adverts.
The big rocks and logs look tricky. 5 more paced laps without technical issues for the current leader might be good enough for the win?
@lister … I’ve just switched from Discovery over to iPlayer as that first advert break was ridiculously long!
Good course though, some hardcore technical sections.
But then some very very smooth sections where you would want to fully lockout
Yeah, I’m on BBC1 now and the bonus is no Rik on the mic! Ollie wasn’t great either but Isla is good on the beeb.
Could do with some footage of the rear wheel dismantling.
Agree, that rim looked like it had broken clean through.
Feel sorry for Candice Lill, she's been having a great season this year.
The pinarello frame Prevot is riding has a strange seat stay connection.
A mix of FS and hardtail being used as well.
Can see the drone now, it's protected by a little football type wire cage around it, following them through the trees.
Who is this bloke commentating on BBC? he's terrible.
Surprised to see an insert on that destroyed wheel. I figured they would be running such high pressures and insert wouldn't be much use.
Agree with Isla.
I would think this course might suit Pidcock pretty well.
Ooof
She was unconscious! ?
Ooh. Lecomte went down hard.
I don't think she was unconscious even after the bike hit her. I think she remained stationary as she wouldn't know which way to go to avoid being hit by another rider?
I am not a doctor.
Are they not allowed to have a spare bike? Rather than changing the wheel.
PFP just riding away with this one, that's a huge margin!
I would of thought that the bike mechanics would have used power tools and a spare axle for wheel changes? Must be a powered torque wrench that'd do the job quicker than an Allen key?
HE DOESN’T STOP TALKING!
Nice win for PFP.
Yup, well ridden by PFP.... just a shame it never really turned into much of a race/
Surprised Candice Lill finished in the top 20.
Is PFP bike running those string spoked wheels?
Great ride from PFP.
I’m always amazed when I see elite athletes looking so fresh at the end. There didn’t appear to have been a single bead of sweat on her!
Loana Lecomte glad it's not to serious but looks like she's going to be pretty sore tomorrow.
Only watched the 15 min highlights on the iPlayer, which wasn't great in terms of showing the narrative of the race.
I'm agnostic on the course, yes at first glance the obvious gravel bike comments came to mind, but the tech features were pretty severe and all that room for overtaking is a good thing IMO.
Preview of the race, the favourites and the start list here:
https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/olympic-games-2024/mountain-bike-men-s-cross-country-xco/preview/
Eurosport was woeful with the ad breaks. Missed PFP's initial breakaway, Puck's puncture, Keller's puncture? or otherwise dropping off the pace.
They only ever showed the top 5 or so racers, which at a one off race, I understand that there's not really any point showing the rest - but thats the French broadcaster's descision, not Eurosports.
Got no issue with Ric and Ollie on the mic (alhough I spotted Batten's falt typre before they did) but they themselves seemed unaware of the commercial breaks - there was no "welcome back, here's what you missed" eather orally from them, or highlights from the broadcast. we just skipped 3 minutes of racing and had to try to work out what happened. Might try BBC tonight, assume I can watch full replay after the fact?
People I think are really downplaying Loana's crash. She was lying there motionless in a really unnatural position for the whole time she was on screen and Rissvets rode past her. That wasn't a "god this hurts" lying on the floor position or even a "I've just blown my medal chance" position; it was a complete ragdoll/sack of spuds face down in a rock garden.
thats the French broadcaster’s descision,
There's an Olympics broadcasting team, it's not led by the French broadcaster.
Everyone takes the same feed and just adds commentary.
But this is just a point of order. I agree the live director seemed hopeless.
There’s an Olympics broadcasting team, it’s not led by the French broadcaster.
Sorry that was what I meant - there's one feed, everyone else just buys it then gets to talk over it, run ads etc as they choose.
We watched the full BBC women's race last night and were pleasantly surprised. Matt Payne was better than when he did the worlds last year and Isla sounded nervous at first but settled into it well. Certainly not Rob and Bart standard, but much better than the old days of BBC trotting out Hugh Porter.
They immediately spotted stuff like Puck's puncture and the filming did a decent job of showing Puck and Evie yo-yoing for 4th and 5th on the final lap.
Well done to Evie on her performance, 5th is a good result, particularly so soon after suffering concussion!
MTB is notoriously difficult to film well and it doesn't help that the speed and technical aspects don't really come through; the camera flattens out a lot of the terrain.
Shame the drone wasn't used more, that's one of the few decent ways of getting up close into the action and with the large time gaps, it would have been possible to drop a drone in behind a fair few of the riders.
Commentary - Matt isn't bad, he's a lot better than many of the alternatives. Having Isla Short there was excellent, hope she's back for today's race. I seem to remember Chris Boardman doing some of the MTB commentary at London 2012 and actually doing a reasonable job. He was on the Time Trial commentary and I imagine he'll be doing the road race as well.
I actually dont mind Ric and Oli but I think ill give BBC a go this afternoon.
Half an hour till broadcast starts.
(I secretly want N1N0 to win...)
where do i watch this??!! i can't find it on iplayer..
DrP
I watch it on Discovery then switch over to BBC when the ads come on then back.
I'd also love Nino to win but doubt he will, hopefully he does medal.
Think BBC2 is showing it.
BBC 2 from 1300.
fab, ta...
The stw thread said 1210..so i panicked!
DrP
I think BBC2 for the men’s at 1pm today, where did 12:10 come from…?
I watch it on Discovery then switch over to BBC when the ads come on then back
How are you seeing it on Discovery? Not showing on mine
(why bother switching back if BBC is showing it too - without ads)
I’m excited, but doing virtual training today! I’ll get the first 5mins, then will be double screening and not paying attention to the training! Come on Tom!
Because I prefer the commentators on Discovery that why.
To see it on discovery I went to the Paris 2024 menu and it was showing Mountain Biking Live.
