Why hardly any mtb racing at Olympics?

[mr Mag00]

the mens is v early tomorrow morning?

 

[Renard]

On ATM. I reckon any chance of a medal evaporated within the first minute and a half though.

 

[barq]

Good come back from Liam Killeen. Reminds me so much of 2004.

 

[summerdays]

I thought the TV coverage of the mens race was rubbish... yes I was interested in the leader, but I was also interested in the other participants to see how they coped with the trickier sections of the course. And the slow motion shot that they repeated at least 3 times really annoyed me when they could of been showing the actual race.

 

[barq]

I agree. It focused far too much on Absalon. Obviously it was a great performance, but we got very little sense of what was happening further back in the field.

 

[Steve Austin]

As someone who has ridden XC bikes for as long as they have been around, i think MTB racing is dull as dishwater to watch. And as such it will never get more than one event.
DH racing 'could' be interesting, but watching folk plummet down a course at breakneck speed isn't really much of a spectator sport either.

I like the idea that as we have lots of MTBers in the UK we should have a world champion, or be as good at MTB as track cycling. We didn't become the best at Track overnight, so MTB needs some time. Of course we need to find someone with enough talent and ability to be able to compete at the top level as well.

 

[coldash]

I like doing XC but I think it's one of these sports that just doesn't televise well. Maybe the courses are too good at separating the best from the rest and turn it into a TT, or the courses are too narrow to encourage side-by-side racing, or the trees get in the way of good camera coverage but whatever it is, for me, it doesn't have any appeal as a (TV) spectator sport.

 

[AndyM78]

How about making a kind of 2 wheel triathlon where the competitors would do an mtb event, a downhill event and maybe a cyclocross event. some would shine in a certain event where others struggle only to turn it round on the next. Loads of scope for tv and spectators? Don't fancy doing one myself though!

 

[Losidan]

How about making a kind of 2 wheel triathlon where the competitors would do an mtb event, a downhill event and maybe a cyclocross event. some would shine in a certain event where others struggle only to turn it round on the next. Loads of scope for tv and spectators? Don't fancy doing one myself though!

or swap the dh for 4x? Good for tv too which bmx has defo proved

 

[Losidan]

I like doing XC but I think it's one of these sports that just doesn't televise well. Maybe the courses are too good at separating the best from the rest and turn it into a TT, or the courses are too narrow to encourage side-by-side racing, or the trees get in the way of good camera coverage but whatever it is, for me, it doesn't have any appeal as a (TV) spectator sport.

xc racing is very different from when I dabbled in it about 15 yrs ago. There used to be loads of obstacles and unrideable sections built into a lap. Slinging your bike on your shoulder and running was a necessity. I dont doubt the riders are more skilled these days but the courses are different too and I think it detracts from the spectacle...