All-night long, rain changed the condition of the course. After three days of dust, the layer of sticky mud had to be removed less than 2 hours before the start.
As you can see the orange color on the Torch Collection bike of Jaroslav Kulhavy, the sun wasn't in the sky. But thankfully the rain didn't come back either, despite predictions.
49 riders from 32 countries on the start line of the Olympic XCO race.
Flat out from the start! Fighting for positions during the wide start loop caused a lot of shuffling. Road World Champion, Peter Sagan made it to the lead from the last place in just a couple hundred meters.
Nino Schurter having fun even at the most important race in four years.
There are no certain numbers about spectators along the course, but the crowds were huge! Especially around the tricky rock gardens...
Well cheered Brazilian hero Henrique Avancini finished 23rd.
Julien Absalon already has two Olympic gold medals at home. This time, he left Rio with 8th place.
MTB Cross Country Olympic racing at its best! Nino Schurter and Jaroslav Kulhavy sprinting from one section to another...
It's not just about power. Road cycling World Champion Peter Sagan had to deal with technical issues. He snapped a chain when training before the start, got a flat tire at course check in that morning and two more flats during the race, he would finish 35th. It would be very interesting to see how he could do without these troubles!
Lap 5 of 7 and the battle for gold still continues. In the next climb, Nino made the final attack for his victory.
A big surprise of the Olympic race: Colombian Jhonnatan Botero Villegas kept his pace high all the time and finished 5th!
Marco Aurelio Fontana
As we know from Jose Antonio Hermida, when a Spaniard has a mustache, watch out! Carlos Nicolas Coloma got the bronze medal!
The big goal is achieved! Nino Schurter is the Olympic winner!
The Hunt for Glory at the finish.
Jaroslav Kulhavy finishing second at +50 sec. and happy with the silver.
Jaroslav Kulhavy and Nino Schurter. They just switched the roles from London 2012.
Jhonnatan Botero Villegas finishing 5th.
Julien Absalon
Marco Aurelio Fontana's emotions after he crossed the line in 20th place. He had to deal with a flat tire as well.
@pinkbike thanks for make ColOmbian riders appear on this amazing mtb magazine, Marcelo Gutierrez (DH), Mariana Pajon (BMX) and Jhonnatan Botero (MTB), they are for this days our cycling heroes !
@davidsimons: The sport is medieval and barbaric. The bull however does go straight to the butchers table and the meat is sold for quite a lot of money. At least the meat does end up on a table getting eaten unlike some other blood sports
I thought the course looked really cool. Obviously man-made and crafted to include all kinds of features, the rock gardens added some real difficulty and with the dirt or unpredictable traction there were some good crashes on the boulders. There was that crazy contrast between the burnt-up terrain and the race course too. Some of the drops were properly steep, and might even give a rider on a 6" AM bike the shivers!
I agree. There are a lot of negative comments here about it being too easy or man made, but I'd love to get to play on it for a day. Looks like a lot of fun.
I watched the whole race and i agree. Course was great and I would have second thoughts hitting some of those rock gardens on my bike, not to mention on a hardtail with the saddle up through the roof!
Good race!
@panchocampbell: I read it was 4.85km long each circuit, and data from the test race in fall 2015 showed that the biggest climb up Flag Mountain was 169 ft. The women's test race showed a total of 2382 feet of elevation gain. So, not huge climbing but a lot of short and punchy uphill sections.
@panchocampbell: l think they said around 160-170 meters each lap in the danish broadcast. The climbs did not look so long, but it looked like the course was tough for the riders.
@zutroy: Especially after pinning it for almost every second on all the other parts of each lap in between any of the climbs. Flat as a pancake can be just as painful as a climb. It just depends how hard a rider pushes themselves.
I don't think you want DH in the Olympics. Look what they do to the BMX racing around on carpet. If skateboarding is good enough for Tokyo 2020, then maybe slopestyle could by Olympic class considering their courses are man made. If DH was in the Olympics, the course would end up 100% man made like this XC course. Let's stay free from this Olympic stuff (fluff)
Ribbon dancing as you like to call it's is a sport that every country can participate in. The IOC not looking to make sports more exclusive. DH at Olympic level would either have one to two top pros per conutry and bunch of randoms who can't even make a WC field or it would end up just another WC on a
Bad to really bad course depending where the Olympics are held.
@IstreetSandRooster: Not necessarily true, for DH probably though. Due to country quotas only 6-7 athletes from each country total are allowed, so somewhere like GB would take a huge hit, while countries that are not as dominant could send more rider. All in all though, there is still a minimum qualification that people have to meet, so there wouldn't be the kinds of riders you see at World Champs. I race in ski cross and the Olympics are the reason we still have a sport, and a growing one at that. The Olympic courses are way bigger and better than any WC or even Xgames course.
@handynzl: you are totally right on the ridiculous courses. I just want people to see it. Most dont even know it exists. But again, back when raced bmx ,there was still occasionally loose dirt on the course.
@Indiam96: how is it any different than road or xc racing? The bikes all cost the same ridiculous amount. They can always find a hill within 25 miles of the main venue. Its not that difficult
@IstreetSandRooster: The Olympics gave mountain biking and the manufacturers more exposure in three hours of racing than three years of World Cup DH and Enduro racing combined.
As for being where sports go to die, I think swimming, track, gymnastics, etc., would disagree. It's where a lot of those sports shine their brightest.
Seriously though...take London 2012. Had they included DH, where would that have been run? Serious question that the pommies can answer. What is the most viable DH near to London? And just how far away is it?
@TheR: ok, exposure to who? The Olympics are a tricky animal, I'm surprised that Nino Schurter wasn't docked points or whatever for a "break of form" or criticized for lack of focus and not taking it more serious.. is that what you want to expose because sometimes you don't get everything you want with the olympics.
If the olympics are where sports were thriving and alive, you'd think you could find training facilities everywhere for all of those sports, especially at the venues they are creating to compete on. I'm pretty sure after the games, a lot of the venues go to ruin and are torn down because they don't get used and there isn't enough demand, is that alive? If you do have access to train at olympic caliber facilities, would you consider yourself the exception or the rule?
The Olympics are perfect for some sports but not all of them.
I believe if you want to grow a sport you make it more accessible. To initiate access to people who don't ALREADY have it and would therefore need to create their own facilities, that would be a pretty inspiring 3hrs.. (shout out to the Jamaican bobsled team even though I wasn't inspired enough to become a bob sledder)
Well... Put it this way - there are zero rounds of the British DH series in England, all are in North Wales or Scotland. So several hours drive from London...:
Round 1 2nd/3rd April at Ae Forest in Dumfires in Scotland.
Round 2 14th/15th May at Nevis Range, Fort William in Scotland.
Round 3 28th/29th May at Rhyd-Y-Felin (Often called Bala), next door to Revolution Bike Park in Wales.
Round 4 25th/26th June at Moelfre in Wales (Near Oswestry) in Wales.
Round 5 27th/28th August at Revolution Bike Park in Wales.
Round 6 17th/18th September at Llangollen in Wales.
@handynzl: what are you smoking aboutbthe bmx being carpet? Its dirt and asphalt on those tracks and that dirt is soiltaced to all get out. And short of the color scheme every supercross track in the world looks just about the same materials wise.
Something to consider when a sport is accepted into the olympics and therefore endorsed by the ioc is that each country eligible to compete will have a national independent from local government olympic committee. That national olympic committee's role throughout the period until the games is to raise funding through corporate sponsorship and traditional fund raising events etc. They organize and distribute funding from local and national governments. The national olympic committee will also provide individual funding to athletes leading up to and during the games. The ioc own the broadcasting liscense for the media etc and some (not much) of that revenue (massive €£$) is distributed to the respective domestic olympic committee's and then finds its way to the athletes. Its a corrupt system though on the ioc level as there are lots of pockets open inbetween them charging rediculous money to broadcast events to filtering down to the independent olympic committee's and on to the athletes but it does inject money into sports AND raise the profile massively on a corporate sponsorship level. Weather thats what dh needs/wants is another story.............
@captainian: Olympic venues that are several hours away from the host city are surprisingly common. The television coverage typically hides these logistical facts, but any one of those venues could have been successfully used in 2012.
@IstreetSandRooster: Exposure to whom? Are you serious? The millions of people worldwide who tune into the Olympics every four years. Most of these are just your everyday, average, mainstream people who had no idea of what the sport is about, and now they've got a little taste. That is gold to a manufacturer. Millions of people see their product on the world's largest sporting stage. Millions more potential customers, millions more potential riders. All of those people won't convert, for sure, but whatever percentage does -- and there will surely be a percentage -- is growth.
And the key here is that it's reaching people beyond those who already participate. All the world cup downhill races and enduro races are fine, and everyone here on Pinkbike seem to enjoy them, but it's like preaching to the choir. We're already in the sport. There is no conversion. The Olympics brings it to another level.
On a slightly related note, I personally do not like the color of the orange Fox forks, but what a genius move on their part for the Olympics. You saw groups of riders all on different bikes, but the one thing they had in common were these bright orange forks. They really stuck out. Again, that's going to draw attention to their product from millions of viewers.
@TheR: as I wrote somewhere else: I get your point and there is probably some truth to it but I'm skeptical. There are a lot more factors at play. A good example would be snowboarding. Slopestyle/SX does fine (and always has) but the general popularity of half pipe, slalom and giant slalom are still abysmal even though they made it to the olympics. Hell, sales show that snowboarding has been collapsing on itself the last few years. So despite the better than ever DH/freeride coverage, I noticed the DH population in my area has been dwindling constantly on the local hills during the last 5 years so exposure isn't all that matters. The huge barrier of entry (expensive bikes), limited areas to practice the sport and its dangerous nature will probably not be overcome by olympics alone. The fact that most of the industry seem to be doing just about shit f*ck all to promote the sport doesn't help either.
I'd still be curious to see how many more people join the XC rider ranks on olympic years.
He wasn't the only one whipping. There were several over that last little hillock before the start/finish area. From memory Kolhavy did one and so too did Coloma.
@jcman92: So true! Aside from the terrible commentary it still was a great race to watch. I enjoyed it and thought it was a well built course. Seemed challenging to to the riders and exciting for the spectators. Nino, as always, didn't disappoint.
legit would have loved to see Sagan not have those issues. dudes a beast on any bike, and would have been interesting he was already up front at the start. what could have been...
Saw some of the crashes in a highlight video. It's seemed to me that at least half could have been avoided by running a dropper post so they could actually get their weight in a good position. It boggles my mind that more guys don't use them.
They'll run them when they are light enough, I think. Absalon was running the short carbon Lev earlier in the season (not sure if he ran it in Rio though).
Most of the racers are skilled enough to manage the drops very well without one. But they are coming, no doubt about it.
The latest XC bike all come with stealth dropper routing - Trek Top Fuel, Scott Scale, Cannondale Scalpel-SI. None of them actually come with a dropper though, since often the advertised weight is important to marketing (my theory) and attitudes haven't shifted yet.
@recipher: Absalon runs dropper in all races now, he seems to love it, also Fluckiger runs dropper here and there and some others. In women's there are droppers as well.
there were a ton more flats in the men's field than in the women's, it seemed. those rock gardens looked pretty gnarly and I wonder if people were having a harder time tracking their line in slipperier conditions than what they'd practiced.
@bmck: ton more? you say that based on your stadistically acurate metric of the fact properly tabulated? or just because you counted with your fingers as you were watching tv? both are very valid methods.
@stealthpenguin: @stealthpenguin: you know the tuvalunians own the .tv domain and that is our biggest source of income but part ot the population does not like it because most of the .tv domains are well porn, so yeah our biggest source of income are pornograpic websites.
True, it isn't fun. However, I have started an XC race in a monsoon, freezing cold, etc. I don't race much anymore but still chuckled a bit at this. Spirit of XC initially was the opposite of road racing: self contained, adjust to all trail conditions without external help etc.
@bman33: Agree...get rid of tech zones. Damn Euro's ruined it for everyone bringing them in, I tell ya!! I've yet to see any tech zones out in the forests I ride in...
@Pinkbike Staff Why is this so late? Was there an IOC embargo on posting these news? And why no photo credits? I am serious with these questions. Thanks.
Anyone know why the riders can't fix their own flats? I heard the announcers say that the riders couldn't have any assistance outside the pits, but you would think they could fix it on their own and get back in the race quicker than limping around the track with a flat.
@Endurahbrah: They can but choose not too. It's pretty much a risk everything or lose situation and carrying the extra weight of a tube + CO2 is not worth it. Might as well just run beefier tires.
Courses are 4-5km long...tech section(s) are probably 3km'ish apart. To stop and pull off the tyre, change a tube, squirt it with air from a cannister, then because that doesn't work half the time, pump it up to pressure with a pump, put the wheel back into the frame, and get going again is probably going to take longer than it will to ride / run to the next tech zone.
Now, back in them thar olden days, when an XC race didn't have an O after it, you were running 50-60km races on 15-20km loops. Now in those cases it was quicker to stop and change your tube.
The second and third said to match. Right! Just 4 x100 relay and Rio DE janeiro Olympic Games, a new game!!!!!!!!!! 第二名和第三名表示要重新比赛。对!就和里约奥运会4X100米接力赛一样,从新比赛一次!!!!
In this race alone, you had Sagan flat, and Sam Gaze flat, and Koretzky (spelling??) flat....all on.....big Ssssssssssss (being the sound of air hissing out of the tyre)
@handynzl: that's why Nino take no risk and used some maxxis tire. Normally running on dugast. He knew that's gonna be a risk. Great choice. Like the continental who's stronger to (absalon).
Beijing time on August 21, 2016 Rio Olympic Games men's final at the Olympic mountain bike mountain bike center start, the race to the sixth lap, the Swiss player Nino lead.
No, they run tubulars. They're getting pinch flats. Even assuming someone made a tubeless setup as light as tubulars w/ the narrow, ultralight casings they're running, punctures would be even worse.
@Ginsu2000: wow since when did shurter stop running dugast tubulars? maybe i wasn't paying attention but I thought he was still on them at the last world cup or two.
They just run too low a pressure, or save themselves 100gm in tyre weight by running thin sidewalls. Essentially going too far past that line in the sand of what will last the race and what won't. Personally I would err on the side of making it to the finish line without worrying about a puncture. To finish first, first you have to finish.
@bpm88: The first race he did on the prototype 29er he was on tubulars and flatted a Dugast and what may have been a clement or some other tubeless tubular. Been on clincher ever since.
@handynzl i agree with you, but i think most racers feel the opposite: they will trade the chance of a DNF it means they can save enough rotating weight to be able to win. run heavier tires and you might never flat, but you might not be able to compete with those willing to take the gamble
@mattsavage: It is nino we are talking about here. There'll be some weight or performance advantage from him running the clinchers over his usual tubular set up
Roadies are more likely to wear a one-piece suit, whereas these guys are more likely to wear bib-shorts and jersey, so they look less like a condom on wheels. And then if you're Manny Fumic, you wear baggies.
www.vertele.com/files/2016/08/Carlos-Coloma-642-400.jpg
The sport is medieval and barbaric.
The bull however does go straight to the butchers table and the meat is sold for quite a lot of money.
At least the meat does end up on a table getting eaten unlike some other blood sports
www.strava.com/activities/412685119
As for being where sports go to die, I think swimming, track, gymnastics, etc., would disagree. It's where a lot of those sports shine their brightest.
Seriously though...take London 2012. Had they included DH, where would that have been run? Serious question that the pommies can answer. What is the most viable DH near to London? And just how far away is it?
If the olympics are where sports were thriving and alive, you'd think you could find training facilities everywhere for all of those sports, especially at the venues they are creating to compete on. I'm pretty sure after the games, a lot of the venues go to ruin and are torn down because they don't get used and there isn't enough demand, is that alive? If you do have access to train at olympic caliber facilities, would you consider yourself the exception or the rule?
The Olympics are perfect for some sports but not all of them.
I believe if you want to grow a sport you make it more accessible. To initiate access to people who don't ALREADY have it and would therefore need to create their own facilities, that would be a pretty inspiring 3hrs.. (shout out to the Jamaican bobsled team even though I wasn't inspired enough to become a bob sledder)
Round 1 2nd/3rd April at Ae Forest in Dumfires in Scotland.
Round 2 14th/15th May at Nevis Range, Fort William in Scotland.
Round 3 28th/29th May at Rhyd-Y-Felin (Often called Bala), next door to Revolution Bike Park in Wales.
Round 4 25th/26th June at Moelfre in Wales (Near Oswestry) in Wales.
Round 5 27th/28th August at Revolution Bike Park in Wales.
Round 6 17th/18th September at Llangollen in Wales.
And the key here is that it's reaching people beyond those who already participate. All the world cup downhill races and enduro races are fine, and everyone here on Pinkbike seem to enjoy them, but it's like preaching to the choir. We're already in the sport. There is no conversion. The Olympics brings it to another level.
On a slightly related note, I personally do not like the color of the orange Fox forks, but what a genius move on their part for the Olympics. You saw groups of riders all on different bikes, but the one thing they had in common were these bright orange forks. They really stuck out. Again, that's going to draw attention to their product from millions of viewers.
there are no hills ......
I'd still be curious to see how many more people join the XC rider ranks on olympic years.
For examples of what a tailwhip is see "Red Bull Joyride"
Most of the racers are skilled enough to manage the drops very well without one. But they are coming, no doubt about it.
The latest XC bike all come with stealth dropper routing - Trek Top Fuel, Scott Scale, Cannondale Scalpel-SI. None of them actually come with a dropper though, since often the advertised weight is important to marketing (my theory) and attitudes haven't shifted yet.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvgxKiOPMP0
also we are sinking.
scontent-syd1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14100357_1194036553951685_4438785345000194798_n.jpg?oh=3f827f358ee6f292db2f58e94f823101&oe=583D4AED
Some riders also had an onboard camera as well as the GPS
scontent-syd1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14079477_1194036650618342_7032112303165454383_n.jpg?oh=9196612c3b87be71df819f5d84a76e87&oe=5849F007
Now, back in them thar olden days, when an XC race didn't have an O after it, you were running 50-60km races on 15-20km loops. Now in those cases it was quicker to stop and change your tube.
Final Men - www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcPNMzr2klY&list=PLRnirnQLaVL9N5aVIGPRhWo6SfbHflIAa&index=1
Final woman - www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DVww78uBCM&list=PLRnirnQLaVL9N5aVIGPRhWo6SfbHflIAa&index=2
About Sagan - www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmGYxh4Pl2w&list=PLRnirnQLaVL9N5aVIGPRhWo6SfbHflIAa&index=3
About Absalon - www.youtube.com/watch?v=t24yEIyeujA&t=59s&list=PLRnirnQLaVL9N5aVIGPRhWo6SfbHflIAa&index=4
About NINO - www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4sG3wmwGww&t=8s&list=PLRnirnQLaVL9N5aVIGPRhWo6SfbHflIAa&index=5
About track -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3cgS4ekkxk&list=PLRnirnQLaVL9N5aVIGPRhWo6SfbHflIAa&index=8
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eH6_PLcixY&list=PLRnirnQLaVL9N5aVIGPRhWo6SfbHflIAa&index=7
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jqI8dT2OiY&t=59s&list=PLRnirnQLaVL9N5aVIGPRhWo6SfbHflIAa&index=6
Emily Batty looks pretty good in it.
To each their own I guess..........
Oh yeah, it's actually Lycra. ????
He knew that's gonna be a risk. Great choice. Like the continental who's stronger to (absalon).
You will find the woman race too
Final Men - www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcPNMzr2klY&list=PLRnirnQLaVL9N5aVIGPRhWo6SfbHflIAa&index=1
Final woman - www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DVww78uBCM&list=PLRnirnQLaVL9N5aVIGPRhWo6SfbHflIAa&index=2
About Sagan - www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmGYxh4Pl2w&list=PLRnirnQLaVL9N5aVIGPRhWo6SfbHflIAa&index=3
About Absalon - www.youtube.com/watch?v=t24yEIyeujA&t=59s&list=PLRnirnQLaVL9N5aVIGPRhWo6SfbHflIAa&index=4
About NINO - www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4sG3wmwGww&t=8s&list=PLRnirnQLaVL9N5aVIGPRhWo6SfbHflIAa&index=5
About track -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3cgS4ekkxk&list=PLRnirnQLaVL9N5aVIGPRhWo6SfbHflIAa&index=8
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eH6_PLcixY&list=PLRnirnQLaVL9N5aVIGPRhWo6SfbHflIAa&index=7
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jqI8dT2OiY&t=59s&list=PLRnirnQLaVL9N5aVIGPRhWo6SfbHflIAa&index=6