Pidcock does not like the Paris Olympics circuit

The British Tom Pidcock is already in Paris to try to defend his gold medal in mountain bike. He has been training on the Élancourt Hill circuit since Wednesday and today he had the opportunity to express his thoughts to the press: "It's bland"

The XCO circuit of the Paris Olympics is "not the favorite" of Tom Pidcock

As usual, Tom Pidcock has not held back when talking about the Paris Olympics circuit and has said that "it's not really a mountain bike track" and he finds it "bland". It is worth noting that the last time he competed in mountain bike, he did so, and won, on the most aggressive XCO track we have seen to date, in Crans Montana.

"It's bland and I think they could have done a better job creating a mountain bike course"

"We love mountain biking to enjoy what it is.... When you only have to do gravel on a nice slope, it's not really mountain biking".

RECOMENDADO

What are the five monuments of cycling?

The most reliable method for determining how many calories you burn while cycling

The highest-paid cyclists in the world in 2026: Pogacar continues to lead the ranking.

SCOTT Spark RC 2026 Range: updated models, prices, and weights

When do helmets have to be changed? Do they have an expiration date?

What benefits does bicarbonate have for cyclists?

In that sense, the British Evie Richards agreed with her teammate: 

"I wouldn't say it's not challenging enough. I think, like the rest of the bikers, a natural track that changes with the conditions would be great, that's where we love to race. But I think they have done the best they could, being so close to Paris. I guess it's not easy to open a mountain bike circuit anywhere"

"If I were the designer, I would make it more natural, with many more natural features, instead of man-made ones. But I think we usually see this at the Olympics. It's usually a slightly different course than what we would compete in the World Cups, but I think that's just because when we compete in the World Cups, we are usually in the Alps somewhere, in a nice ski resort. This is very close to the city center".

The XCO track of Élancourt Hill has a distance of 4.4 km with 110 meters of elevation gain per lap. As always, the number of laps will be determined after seeing the lap times, so that the race lasts between 80 and 100 minutes.