Olympics Cycling Mountain Bike live stream: Watch online – August 20
By Brad Weiss
The 2016 Rio Olympics Mountain Bike competition gets started on Saturday, as the women compete in the Women’s Cross-country event.
The cycling events at the 2016 Rio Olympics are coming to a close, and on Saturday, the women will compete in their final competition. The Women’s Cross-country race is the longest competition of the cycling events, and take incredible skill to win.
The Cross-country track is 5km long, and the women will have to navigate it six times. The course has many parts to it, including stone and grass trails, which include stones and logs. The cyclists will have to deal with these obstacles if they want to win the gold.
During the 2012 London Olympics, France’s Julie Bresset won the gold medal, finishing in 1:30:52. Presset is not in the event in 2016, which should clear the way for Germany’s Sabine Spitz. Spitz has the most medals in this event in Olympic history and is coming off a silver in London.
Georgia Gould of the United States took the bronze medal last Olympics, but like Bresset, she will not compete. The two American cyclists in this event will be Lea Davison and Chloe Woodruff.
The Cross-country event is one final, with no preliminary or semifinal rounds. In 2016, there will be 29 cyclists competing. All of the women will start at the same time, and the three fastest will receive medals.
If any cyclist should get hungry, or thirsty, they can go to the “feed zone.” Here, their helpers can give them energy snacks or energy drinks. It is a pretty unique feature that makes this event great to watch. The “feed zone” is the equivalent of a pit stop in auto racing.
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On Sunday, the men will race in their own Cross-country event, signalling the end of the cycling events at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Jaroslav Kulhavy of the Czech Republic will look to defend the gold medal he won at the 2012 London Olympics.
Details for the Olympics cycling Mountain Bike competition on Saturday are below:
Date: Saturday, August 20
Start Time: 11:30 a.m. ET
TV Info: NBCSN (live coverage of the finals starts at 2:00 p.m. ET)
Live Stream: NBC Olympics