Tom Pidcock, the reigning Olympic mountain bike champion, has criticised the state of the course in Paris, describing it as “bland” and “just gravel”.
The 24-year-old from Yorkshire, who had to pull out of the recent Tour de France after contracting Covid, said he had fully recovered now and was “in a good place” ahead of defending his title on Monday.
But he declared himself unimpressed after completing a recon of the course in Élancourt Hill, 25 miles west of Paris, on Wednesday, saying organisers had simply “gravelled over a nice hillside”.
“It’s gravel,” Pidcock said on a media call on Friday morning when asked for his thoughts on the course. “It’s not the best course in the world but it’s the same for everyone. It’s bland. I think they could have done a better job of making a more mountain-bike course.”
Asked whether the riders had had any input into the design, Pidcock added: “We ride what we are given. [But] we love mountain bike for a reason. It’s what drives us. We enjoy it for what it is and that’s the courses you get to ride and places you get to go.
‘If you just gravel over a nice hillside it’s not really mountain bike’
“If you just gravel over a nice hillside it’s not really mountain bike. There’s not much thinking that goes into it. It’s one line and you go down there.”
The 4.4km main circuit, which has 110 metres of elevation gain, crosses the highest point in the Paris area, offering views in the distance of the Eiffel Tower. Organisers say it consists of groomed gravel paths, a technical rock garden, twisting terrain and one challenging climb, which is bypassed on the opening 2.2km lap. In theory the course should suit Pidcock due to its technical nature.
The Briton is the heavy favourite to retain the title he won in Tokyo three years ago. Although he has not had many opportunities to race mountain bikes this season due to his WorldTour road schedule, he did win the two races he started in Nové Město and Crans-Montana.
The versatile former cyclo-cross world champion said he was feeling good in his body.
“I’m fine,” he insisted of his health. “It was always the plan to finish the Tour so I was six days positive, not that that should be the indicator now. I was quite sick. After a stage it would make it worse so we made the decision that it was better I stopped.
“But I’m in a good place now. I’m happy with where I am. I recovered well. I think I can be pretty content with how my recovery went. The plan was always to finish the tour. Getting sick was not part of the plan and I had to adapt to that.”
Richards shares Pidcock’s view
Evie Richards, who goes in the women’s race on Sunday, echoed Pidcock’s views about the course but conceded it was “not the easiest thing” for the organisers to conjure up an interesting test in the Paris region.
