Nearly 5km of dirt track, rocks, water, ridges, bridges, a tunnel, tight bends and a series of tough climbs and descents: this is the Rio 2016 Olympic Games mountain bike track. Course designer Nick Floros and International Cycling Union (UCI) mountain bike coordinator Simon Burney visited the venue – the Mountain Bike Centre in Deodoro Olympic Park – in July and left happy with the progress being made.

“What we saw here really exceeded expectations,” said Englishman Burney. “I'm sure we're going to have a really good course, a very exciting course, for everyone: athletes, spectators and TV broadcasters.”

Flores, from South Africa, was delighted to see his vision coming to life, saying: “The area chosen was very good to design for, as it has a natural variety of land types and many climbs and descents. The course is going be great. We’re going to have some different aspects, for example giant footprints around the course, and some parts based on the shapes we see around the city. I’m sure it’s going to be a fun course for everyone.”

Flores rode the course, which is 80 per cent complete, with a camera on his helmet to create the video below.

Burney said the course would not favour any particular type of rider so the Olympic champion would have to be a great all-round cyclist. “It's hard to say that one course is better or worse than another, but we're sure that Rio’s course has the potential to be one of the best Olympic courses ever,” he said. “I can’t wait to see it being used for a test event.”

The test event, the Aquece Rio International Mountain Bike Challenge, will take place on 11 October, with some of the world’s leading mountain bikers expected to compete.

The mountain bike venue will form part of the X-Park along with the BMX course and canoe slalom circuit. After the Games, the area will become a giant leisure park for the public, including a mini mountain bike track, while maintaining some facilities for high-performance athletes.