There are less than 300 days to go until the next summer Olympics in Rio and excitement is starting to build. The only mountain bike discipline being represented will be cross country and the test event took place last weekend.

In this video you can see two-time Olympic champion Julien Absalon take on a full lap of the course that will be used in the games. The 5 km long circuit seems to consist of two main climbs and descents with a lot of man made features.

It looks very similar to the London course at Hadeligh Farm with a lot of rock and wood features and some small jumps. The descents and climbs do seem longer than Hadleigh’s though which is surely a good thing.

Absalon is regarded as one of the greatest cross country riders of all time. He won the gold medals at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. A puncture on the first lap at the London Olympics prevented him from securing the hat-trick but he will no doubt be fighting for the win next summer. He will face challenges from the current World Champion Nino Schurter and current Olympic Champion Jaroslav Kulhavy.

This test event was won by Schurter with Absalon in fourth place. The Olympic event will take place on August 20 – 21 next year.