September 25/23 10:58 am - Gunnar Holmgren 5th at Paris Olympic Test Event

Posted by Editoress on 09/25/23
 

The mountain bike test event for next year's Olympic Games in Paris, France was held on Sunday, with four Canadians participating - two each in the men's and women's events.

In the men's event, Gunnar Holmgren finished fifth and Carter Woods was 11th. France's Victor Koretzky won, ahead of Anton Cooper (New Zealand) and Nino Schurter (Switzerland).

France's Victor Koretzky wins men's race

Holmgren told us afterwards, The builders did a good job with the course. It's 90% gravel but has lots of sweeping berms, jumps and technical rock sections to keep you on your toes. The layout is compact which is great for the spectators and riders alike. The speed is very high so racing smoothly and minimizing mistakes was key.

In the women's race, Canadians Jenn Jackson and Emilly Johnston were tenth and 21st, respectively. France's Loana Lecomte won ahead of Laura Stigger (Austria) and Pauline Ferrand Prevot (France).

Jenn Jackson provided us with a detailed breakdown of the course (as well as maps (below) - thanks Jenn!):

The course is just over 4km and about 110m of climbing per lap, so less density than we see a some World Cup courses, which combined with it being primarily a crushed packed gravel surface made for high average speeds. The winning speed for the women was over 19km/h and the men 22km/h. I think it's an all-rounder course, and one you have to pay attention and always be pushing to get the most speed out of it.

The climbs have enough changing pitches, corners, small line choices, and some dips that you need to consciously push - there's no turning your brain off and just looking at the powermeter. The descents favour riders who can use the changes in terrain and surfaces to generate momentum, and if you're not pumping or jumping, getting on the pedals at every chance.

The first climb starts with a steep open pitch, and then a lull before steady couple minutes (leaders approximately 3:00 women, 2:30 men) of climbing with some small split lines and switchbacks - there's opportunity to pass but with the course being relatively fresh the packed main line was much quicker, and going around required committed effort to get over some of the looser stuff. It tops off with a wide flat section before the first descent so there's a big effort to hold wheels or get ahead there.

The second climb it a bit more drawn out (leaders approximately 4:15 women, 3:30 men), and starts with more gradual gradients and single track with relatively short open flat stretch in the middle and another longer wide steep section up to the high point of the course to let everyone fight for position before the final main descent.

Both descents are pretty extended (around 2min each) and undulating with lots of rises into rock piles you have to remember. Both have some split-choice rock gardens that are steep and favoured one main line, but we expect they'll adapt them to have more of a true A-B-C option for skill/risk demand for the Olympics next year.

The end of the course is on the natural dirt, which in training when wet was very greasy and packed up quite a bit, which we understand is why they had to use crushed gravel to layer most of the track so it wouldn't become unrideable in the wet. The gravel was quite slow and heavy after the rain, packing into ruts, but as it dried got much faster overall but in some places quite marble-y.

There were also a couple wood bridges that were discussed to be removed to create A-line gap jumps, but after feedback during training it was decided the bridges would stay in for the test event to allow the course designers time to modify the take-off of one and the landing of another, so they could be ridden safely and consistently, while still requiring a high level of commitment, appropriate speed, and skill to complete without consequence.

The purpose of the test event is for the course builders and organizers to iron out things like this before the Olympics, since the course is built specifically for the race, for the racers. It was a really cool experience for all of us to be part of and motivating to work towards earning the opportunity to be there to race it again next summer.

2024 Paris MTB XCO Test event results