Olympia 2024: All information about the MTB XCO races in Paris
Olympia 2024: this is what happened
The mountain bike races at the Olympic Games are a thing of the past. The two top favorites, Tom Pidcock and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, lived up to expectations and crossed the finish line first, both riding Pinarellos.
In the women’s competition, Haley Batten (USA) and Jenny Risveds (Sweden) completed the podium with second and third places.
The men’s race remained exciting until the end and was a duel between Victor Koretzky (France) and Tom Pidcock (UK). In the last section of the course, Pidcock was able to overtake the Frenchman Koretzky and secure the gold medal. Third place went to Alan Hatherly (RSA), who was the first non-European to win a medal in an Olympic cross-country race.
The German male and female drivers achieved solid results, but a podium finish remained a long way off. Nina Benz finished in a solid 16th place in the women’s race. The German men, Julian Schelb and Luca Schwarzbauer, crossed the finish line in 15th and 16th place.
Rückblick
The first Olympic medals were fought for in MTB XCO (Cross Country Olympic) in Atlanta in 1996. The winner was Dutchman Bart Brentjens, who was most recently known as a commentator for the World Cup races on Red Bull TV. At that time, the racers in the US state of Georgia were still riding 26-inch bikes with rim brakes. On board modern high-end bikes, 36 women and 36 men will compete at the 33rd Olympic Games in Paris at the end of July.
When and where do the races take place?
Elancourt Hill, around 40 km southwest of downtown Paris, is the highest point in the Paris region at 231 m and will be the venue for the eighth Olympic MTB competitions. The races will take place on Sunday, July 28 (women) and Monday, July 29 (men), each at 2:10 p.m. The nearest town, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, with around 230,000 inhabitants, will also be the venue for the BMX competitions. In addition, the Palace of Versailles, one of the most famous sights around Paris, is only a few km from Elancourt Hill. If the weather is good, you can see all the way to the Eiffel Tower from the hill. That’s what it’s likely to be like on Sunday. 26 degrees (Sunday) and 30° (Monday) are forecast, and the track should be bone dry on both race days despite rain on Saturday.
How can I watch the races?
The Summer Olympics are one of the most important sporting events in the world, alongside the World Cup, Super Bowl and others, in terms of TV broadcasts and audience numbers. From July 26 to August 11, the games can be watched on TV or online via live stream. The women’s cross-country race will be streamed in full on ARD : Presenter Florian Naß, who many also know from Tour de France broadcasts, will start at 2 p.m.
The race will also be broadcast on Swiss television SRF 2. In Switzerland or Germany (with VPN) you can listen to Adrian Arnet and Nino Schurter’s team boss Thomas Frischknecht in the stream from 2 p.m. Insights guaranteed! ORF (Austria) does not offer a complete online live stream apart from the coverage of all disciplines on ORF 1 (as was the case with the men’s race the following day). Last but not least, pay-TV service provider Eurosport 2 and Discovery+ (from 1:55 p.m.) , which also broadcast all UCI World Cups, provide us with a live stream.
Orbea Bikes
The big bike manufacturers are showing off lots of great paint jobs for Paris, including Orbea. The Basque race bike Oiz will be ridden by Belgian Pierre de Froidmont on Monday.
After the Olympic champion was crowned on Sunday, it’s the men’s turn on Monday (July 29th) – also at 2:10 p.m. The two public broadcasters will take turns reporting – the stream of the men’s race can be followed online on ZDF from 1:55 p.m. on Monday , with commentary by Andreas Kürten.
Are you excited for the races? Insider tip: You can find the replay of the Olympic race in Tokyo 2021 on the official Olympic website .
The Olympic course at Elancourt Hill
According to the official event website, the venue will have space for 15,000 people (2,700 of them seated). The course was designed by South African track construction expert Nick Floros, who also designed the Olympic tracks at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021, and will use “95% existing paths”. After the Olympic Games, the site will remain in a similar form, attracting mountain bikers and hikers and also being used for MTB races.
Looking back on 2021: How did the Olympic races in Tokyo go?
In the 28-year history with eight events, Swiss and French riders have won 16(!) of 42 medals. And let’s be honest: the dominance of our two neighboring nations is unbroken – in 2021 in Tokyo, the Swiss riders (Jolanda Neff, Sina Frei, Linda Indergand) occupied the entire podium! Mathias Flückiger and Nino Schurter (both Swiss) finished 2nd and 4th in Japan three years ago. The Briton Thomas Pidcock won – back then still on an unlabeled BMC Fourstroke, in Paris the Ineos Grenadiers rider will be riding the new Pinarello Dogma XC.
Getty Images AsiaPac
At the 2021 Olympic race in Tokyo, the entire podium consisted of Swiss riders! Jolanda Neff won the “Masked Ball” in Japan.
Jolanda Neff’s hopes of defending her title are dashed – she will unfortunately not be competing in Paris due to ongoing respiratory problems. Fair play: The Swiss announced this early enough and thus made room for Sina Frei, who will fight for Olympic gold alongside Alessandra Keller.
MTB Test Event in Paris im September 2023
Unlike most World Cup tracks, which riders could ride in their sleep, the Olympic track in Paris will be used for the first time by most competitors in competition at the end of July 2024. At least under competition conditions. Although: On September 24, 2023, the MTB Test Event took place on Elancourt Hill! Some of the best professionals and co-favorites took part in the invitational race in France. A French double victory by Loana Lecomte and Victor Koretzky delighted the French fans.
Getty Images Europe
In the women’s race, Loana Lecomte (Canyon, FRA) won ahead of Laura Stigger (Specialized, AU) and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Ineos Grenadiers, FRA).
Who is competing at the Olympics?
In the 2023 World Cup overall ranking, there are already three Swiss athletes in the top 10 for men alone: Nino Schurter, Mathias Flückiger and Lars Forster – but depending on the number of world ranking points the nation has, there are only a certain number of starting places. A six-page, almost incomprehensible PDF document from the world cycling association UCI provides information on who is allowed to go to the Olympics and how many riders the country’s associations are allowed to send to Paris.
Getty Images Europe
Shocking moment in Tokyo: Top favorite and cycling superstar Mathieu van der Poel crashes heavily in the first lap. “MVDP” will not start this year, however, but will concentrate on the Olympic road race on August 3rd.
The top eight countries in the “UCI Mountain Bike Olympic Qualification Ranking”, the qualification period ended on May 26, 2024, are allowed to send at least 2 athletes to Paris. By the way: A single athlete never qualifies for the Olympics, but rather the respective country nominates one or two riders for the Olympics. Identical qualification rules apply to the women’s and men’s races. At the end of the barely manageable, strictly regulated qualification process, there are 36 starters per race (male/female).
Which German competitors will be taking part in Paris?
In the UCI Mountain Bike Olympic Qualification Ranking, i.e. the nation ranking, Germany finished in 6th place (men) with 6464 points and just 9th place for the women. This means that two men and one woman will wear the federal eagle on their chest in Paris. The BDR (German Cycling Association) and national coach chose Luca Schwarzbauer and Julian Schelb alongside Nina Benz. Other top riders such as Lia Schrievers, David List and Maximilian Brandl (both Lexware), who had a serious fall at the World Cup in Crans-Montana (SUI), came up short.
Instagram/Team Germany
Three German athletes will compete in the MTB cross-country discipline at the Olympics: Luca Schwarzbauer, Julian Schelb and Nina Benz.
And why? Luca Schwarzbauer was given the go-ahead by the association early on in his Olympic preparations, he told us in an interview. The successes of the last two seasons speak for him. He was recently crowned German XCO champion in Obergessertshausen. Julian Schelb was able to constantly improve his form from spring to the decisive World Cup in the Czech Republic and in Crans-Montana (2nd and 5th place!) and seems to be back among the world’s best. The bad weather specialist also secured two medals at the European Championships in Romania in May. In the UCI individual rankings, he worked his way up from 101st place to among the best 30 athletes worldwide within half a year.
Remi Fabregues
Germany’s greatest hope at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2023 is likely to be the Nürtingen canyon athlete Luca Schwarzbauer. The German champion of 2022 and 2024 won the overall ranking of the Short Track World Cup last season.
Nina Benz also won a medal in Romania: bronze in cross-country! She recently brought home bronze at the German Championships. The Lexware rider made it into the top 10 for the first time in 2024 in Nové Město na Moravě (CZ), and finished 13th in Val di Sole (IT). The same place where she finished 11th at the World Championships last year! So she has the best prospects of being among the top in Paris too.
Instagram/@luca_schwarzbauer
Arrived in Paris: Luca, Julian and Nina are ready for the games in Paris!
By the way, the Olympic starters in Tokyo in 2021 were Max Brandl, who finished 21st, and Manuel Fumic (P. 28), who ended his active career afterwards and is now team manager of the Cannondale Factory Racing Team; all “his” four athletes will start at the Olympics. In London 2012, Fumic was seventh.
Who are the favorites for gold?
Our editors Lukas Ittenbach and Lukas Hoffmann gave their tips for MB issue 08/2024 at the beginning of June: “Itte” put Evie Richards (GBR) in the gold slot for the women, “Luki” sees Puck Pieterse (NEL) in the lead. In the men’s category, the opinions of our cross-country fans are again divided: While Lukas I. is tipping Sam Gaze (NZL), Lukas H. thinks the French Specialized pilot Victor Koretzky is the strongest.
Of course, there are many other favorites for an Olympic medal – whether in the men’s or women’s race. The fastest women currently: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (FRA), Anne Terpstra (NED), Jenny Rissveds (SWE), Loana Lecomte (FRA), Haley Batten (USA) and Alessandra Keller (SUI).
MOUNTAIN BIKE
Prediction game: Itte and Luki predicted the Olympic podiums in MB issue 08/2024. (Unfortunately, Jolanda Neff will not be starting after all)
Other male medal hopefuls are likely to include defending champion Tom Pidcock (GBR), former world champion Jordan Sarrou (FRA), Alan Hatherly (RSA), Mathias Flückiger (SUI) and of course the 10-time world champion and 2016 Olympic winner Nino Schurter (SUI). Luca Schwarzbauer will also be among the top men, and a medal for him or Julian is not out of the question. “My dream would of course be to win a medal,” confirmed Schwarzbauer in our interview.
MTB XCO Olympia in Paris: Can you watch?
Paris is only about seven hours by car from our editorial office in Stuttgart. Many other Germans can also get there quite quickly, especially by train. Even London 2012 was a long journey for all fans! But can you even be there for the Olympic XCO race on site? You need tickets for that, which were awarded by lottery months ago. We also registered for the ticket lottery early in 2023, but unfortunately were unable to secure tickets this way. However, the races will be shown in the live stream of the public broadcasters (see above).
Conclusion: Olympic Games Paris 2024
Olympia is not just any event! The event inspires tens of millions of fans around the globe, with up to four billion viewers watching worldwide. And MTB XCO has been a part of it for 28 years. The MTB competitions at Olympia Paris 2024 will be gripping, action-packed and exciting (even in front of the TV!) – we are looking forward to it. It will be interesting to see who will be able to put on the coveted gold medal on the podium at Elancourt Hill on the 28th and 29th respectively. Of course, we are keeping our fingers crossed for Nina Benz as well as Julian Schelb and Luca Schwarzbauer.