The public for a first
The gates of the Élancourt hill opened at 11:30 a.m. to the first spectators on Sunday. In front of them, an army of volunteers ready to answer all questions, even those they didn’t ask. The stakes of this day were important for the Games organizing committee: for the first time, ticketing and controls were going to be tested “in real life”.
Ella and Thomas, both 23 years old, had come from Paris – 25 km away – for the occasion. Their places, obtained by Ella’s registration with the Paris 2024 club, delighted her companion, a big fan of mountain biking. And to access the interior of the wooded enclosure, “it was very simple and well done, everything is well signposted” judged the two Parisians, who came by public transport.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt in a wooded part of the course. (B. Papon/The Team)
Among the 3,000 spectators invited, many families. Gérard Gomis, 59 years old and educator in Poissy, had obtained places offered by his municipality. He took on board his neighbor Emma Danon, her daughter Deborah, and another friend Alain Nassa. This group of enthusiastic fifty-year-olds were preparing to begin the ascent of the hill: “Everything went well,” testified the regular spectator of the MTB World Cups. There was no waiting and everything was clear. » In the crowd, among the spectators, we could even come across Juliette Labous and Audrey Cordon-Ragot, who had just returned from the European Championship the day before.
Around the most spectacular passages, the public nevertheless gathered, causing some slowdowns and traffic jams. On Sunday the Élancourt hill site, which will welcome five times as many people on the day of the Olympic events, was in fact only partially accessible to the general public, thus concentrating spectators along a few corridors in order to judge the flow. Developments will be studied and certain passages widened to facilitate passage.
A route still subject to adjustments
At the heart of the questions this weekend was the Olympic circuit, created from scratch on this Ile-de-France hill which had until then only hosted an amateur race, the Revancharde, in the middle of its thick copses and brush. “It was hot” to get everything ready, imagined Yohann Vachette, from Bike Solutions. This former mountain biker is responsible for developing the course designed in broad terms by Nick Floros, the Brazilian tracker beloved by the UCI.
At the time of the first judging, the reigning Olympic champion Jolanda Neff pouted on Saturday, after a few reconnaissance laps: “There’s a bit of a lack of natural parts, apart from the last one in the forest. » Mathieu Van der Poel was delighted with it, on the contrary: “I like it, with its multiple climbs but which are never very long. »
The New Zealander Anton Cooper, the Frenchman Jordan Sarrou, the Swiss Nino Schurter and the Frenchman Victor Koretzky (from left to right), in one of the climbs of the course. (B. Papon/The Team)
“It’s a physically demanding circuit,” deciphered Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt from her first reconnaissance. There are two or three technical parts, but it’s not the Tokyo Olympics where it was very, very technical. » “There is no boring part and as a result, it’s great,” judged Loana Lecomte for her part.
“If there has to be a change, it’s the start which still remains quite dangerous with the mound”
From Friday washed by showers to Sunday under clear sunshine, we will have seen the circuit in several forms. And far from simple meteorological considerations, this is important. The gravel, which notably lines a good part of the track, has given rise to many questions on this subject: useful to prevent the clay from making the circuit impassable in the rain, reducing the technical character by covering the roots, a little too loose the first day of recognition, favoring powerful runners at the expense of pure technicians… “It was a big, big debate,” said Vachette. Let us note, however, in order to further confuse the perception of the circuit, that the two winners on Sunday, Loana Lecomte and Victor Koretzky, are among the most technical drivers on the field.
After these three days, adjustments will be made to the circuit. As early as Friday, the pilots were talking about landing a jump from a footbridge at the top of the hill that was a little too hard. “I even knew it before,” admits Vachette. We already know that we will have to modify it but it will not take very long. »
Loana Lecomte on the first climb of the circuit. (B. Papon/The Team)
“There are no big changes to be made. There are maybe two or three little things to modify. If there must be one, it is the start which still remains quite dangerous with the hill (at the first banked bend, on the right). But they said that it was going to change for next year,” pointed out Lecomte on Sunday afternoon. “If there was a part where you could really overtake, it’s true that it would perhaps be a little better,” added Ferrand-Prévôt to the shopping list. “We will share our feelings and Yvan (Clolus, manager of the Blues) will do what is necessary to get back to the organizing committee,” summarized Sarrou.
Then, the circuit will no longer be accessible, even to the French. “I think that with the UCI and the COJO training days will be imagined. For example, at the end of May, one or two days for all the nations, to come and ride for two days. I think that’s what will be imagined,” already supposes Yvan Clolus, the general manager of the Blues.
French Olympic quotas partly revealed
Yvan Clolus had already been hinting aside for a while, Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt and Loana Lecomte were the two French women who would, unsurprisingly, be at the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic race. Sunday after the test event, it was became a public confirmation: “Among women, there is a clearly defined hierarchy. Loana (Lecomte) and Pauline (Ferrand-Prévôt) check everything. The race of the year was the Worlds and they did 1 and 2 there, we couldn’t do better. Today, they are there. There’s no point asking them again to show us I don’t know what in the spring of next year. » This constitutes validation for Paris 2024.
For men, the end-of-season trend clearly highlights Victor Koretzky. “We can clearly see that there is something emerging, particularly with Victor, who ticks everything off as well. The experience, being there on D-day, being there in front of your audience, here or in Les Gets, ten days ago (doubled in the short race then the Olympic format). » At the end of October, a first announcement will take place, undoubtedly in the form of a first Olympic pre-ticket.
Victor Koretzky emerged victorious in the men’s test event. (B. Papon/The Team)
More surprisingly, the Blues manager brought the amazing Adrien Boichis into the equation. Until then, Yvan Clolus had always directed questions about him towards the objective of Los Angeles 2028. On Sunday, the vice-world champion Espoirs, 20 years old, was the author of a race full of confidence, long in the leading group.
“It is perhaps the future Absalon that we are waiting for,” even dares the boss of the Blues. And so what will he be like in six, seven months? We do not know. » Above all, we detect a way to pique the ego of other French people in the quest for the second Olympic ticket, while it has been more than three years since the manager asked them to go beyond the top 5 to come and win much more regularly .
