The Rio 2016 mountain bike test event was a rip-roaring success on Sunday (11 October), with the world’s leading riders lining up to sing the course’s praises. The International Cycling Union (UCI) delegate even said it would be “way better” than the London 2012 track. So what makes the course at the Mountain Bike Centre in Deodoro Olympic Park so special?

Nick Floros, the South African course designer and ex-mountain biker responsible for the track, explained that the key concerns were to create a technically challenging trail that would bring out the best in the competitors and allow spectators to see as much as possible of the action, while also making the best use of the natural landscape and reflecting the host city and nation.

This resulted in a series of features, such as:

The Flip-Flops

Rocky obstacles in the shape of footprints. The riders jump off the big toe on to the inside of the foot, throwing them forward and creating a flow between the feet. “I wanted to come up with a Brazilian flavour and flip-flops are something that everyone in Brazil has,” said Floros. “You need to give the course its own character and a bit of local identity, and balance that with something that works well for the riders.”

A cyclist jumps into one of the Flip-Flops (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro)

Flag Mountain:

A natural hill that is the highest point of land, riders climb about 1km to the summit, making it one of the longest cross country climbs in the world (see top photo). “It opens the competition up to a broader range of riders,” said Floros. “It’s not super steep, it’s pretty gradual, so the bigger riders should be able to stick with the smaller guys.”

Rio Rocks:

A natural rocky area that was exposed during the construction of the course, at the start of the descent from the top of Flag Mountain, it has a jump at the end. “Whatever natural features were out there, we tried to use them,” said Floros. “This one reflects the topography around Rio.”

One of the riders jumps off the end of Rio Rocks (Photo: Rio 2016/Alexandre Loureiro)

Coconut Beach

As the trail passes in front of two big rock faces that were previously hidden by overgrowth, a batch of coconut trees gives the area its name. There will be seats at this part of the track.

Rio 40 Degrees

A 40-degree descent down a ‘staircase’ made of wooden beams, with the odd rock thrown in, the name also refers to the warm Brazilian weather.

Rio 40 Degrees tests the nerve of the competitors (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)

Downtown

A rocky descent that points towards the downtown area of Rio de Janeiro, this section was made by Floros using rocks from a local quarry 

The Downtown section is full of rocky obstacles (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro)

Olympic evolution

Floros also explained how mountain bike tracks had changed since the sport made its Olympic debut at the Atlanta 1996 Games. “The first tracks were very, very basic, there was not too much construction,” he said. “Then London set the bench-mark for having a very spectator-friendly course and the riders really enjoyed it. The lay of the land allowed for spectators to see a large portion of the track, whereas traditional courses are in wooded areas with far less visibility. The beauty of Rio is that spectators can stand at the highest point (on a hill opposite the grand stand) and see 85 to 90 per cent of the course.”

The Deodoro venue will have space for 25,000 spectators, and Rio 2016 mountain bike manager Paul Davis, who was technical operations manager at London 2012, confirmed that “London had about 60 per cent visibility, whereas here we’ll have about 85”.

Video: ride the Rio Olympic mountain bike course with Andrea Tiveri:

Video: follow course designer around Rio 2016 Olympic Games mountain bike track

Only fine-tuning, which could involve extending the distance between the start line and the first corner, is necessary between now and the Games. Another element that should be improved, but without human input, is the weather. The intense heat (about 35 degrees) was commented on by many of the competitors at the test event, which took place in spring-time in Brazil. The Olympic Games will take place in August, which is winter in Brazil. “I measured the temperature in Deodoro on the same day the competition will be on next year, and it was 25 degrees – so about 10 degrees cooler,” said Davis. “It’s still quite hot for Europeans, but it’s part of the challenge.”