The XCO Paris 2024 Test Event is coming: what it is, schedules, favorites and how to watch it

Next September 24 will be held the Paris 2024 Test Event - MTB XCO. It will be the first time that cyclists can see, train and race in the circuit where in a year's time the XCO Olympic medals will be disputed and here we leave you information about schedules, circuit and favorites.

What is the MTB Paris 2024 Test Event?

The Test Event is an XCO race included in the UCI international calendar and organized by the Organizing Committee of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The purpose of this test is twofold, on the one hand to check the safety conditions, logistics, accessibility, etc. of the circuit and on the other hand the participants will be able to discover the track for the first time, as it has never been raced there before.

This race has very special conditions and although the UCI includes it in its calendar, no prizes or points will be awarded, there will be no distinction of age categories, only women's and men's races will be held in the absolute category, and participants may only be at the starting line by invitation.

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Each federation will have a number of invitations based on the number of places it has currently obtained, but not all the invited riders will be able to race in Sunday's final, some riders will only have the opportunity to go for training.

In total, cyclists from 42 nations, 56 men and 57 women, will participate, and Sunday's race will be held in public. Up to 3,000 fans are expected to attend.

The Olympic circuit

The Cross Country circuit for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where the Test Event will be held, is located on the Elancourt hill, the highest hill in the Yuelines department in the Ile-de-France region, and is about 44 km west of Paris.

The route, located at an altitude of 230 meters, has a distance of 4.4 km per lap (2.2 km for the start loop), accumulates an elevation gain of 110m per lap and has various technical areas such as rock gardens, jumps, etc.

Schedule and how to watch the XCO Test Event Paris 2024

Although it is an important race, the truth is that there is still no information about the live broadcast of the MTB Test Event. But we will keep this article updated with direct links, if any, to watch live or towards live tracking of times.

Friday, September 22

• 14:00-18:00 Official XCO Women's and Men's training sessions

Saturday, September 23

• 10:00 - 11:00 Official XCO training sessions - Women
• 11:00 - 12:00 Official XCO Women's and Men's training sessions
• 13:30-16:00 Official XCO training sessions - Men

Sunday, September 24

• 10:00 - 11:00 Official XCO training sessions - Women
• 12:30 - 13:30 Official XCO Women's and Men's training sessions
• 13:00 - 14:30 XCO Test Event - Women
• 15:00 - 16:30 XCO Test Event -  Men

Favorites to win the Test Event

This race, being an Olympic event, is a very special event because we will see names that are not usually in top level XCO races such as the World Cup and others who are in front and will not be able to race because they do not have a place. For example, from the powerful Swiss team it is usual that there are important names that are not called due to quota restrictions.

In any case, it will be a high level race in which it will again be difficult to choose a few favorites for the victory.

In the men's race we will see the return of important names such as Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands), Sam Gaze (New Zealand) or the current World Champion and Olympic title holder Tom Pidcock (United Kingdom). In addition, there will be the current favorites of any race, such as Nino Schurter and Mathias Fluckiguer (Switzerland), David Valero (Spain), Vlad Dascalu (Romania), Jordan Sarrou and Victor Koretzky (France) or Luca Schwarzbauer (Germany).

In women, the French Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and Loana Lecomte start as top favorites for their level and local condition, but there will be important names such as Puck Pieterse (Netherlands), Alessandra Keller (Switzerland), Mona Mitterwallner (Austria), Martina Berta (Italy) or Evie Richards (United Kingdom). Not to be forgotten is the current Olympic champion Jolanda Neff (Switzerland) who, although she is not having her best season, already knows what it means to win an Olympic gold medal.

After the Test Event, the XCO season will head to the American continent for the last two World Cup events in the USA and Canada.