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Last Updated: Sun 7 Sep, 2:37 am BST

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UCI reject Essex's Olympic mountain bike venue

By Mark Appleton

Essex, highest point 147m, is not a county noted for its mountains. It was therefore perhaps no surprise that inspectors from the UCI deemed the county’s Weald Country Park just too flat to host the 2012 Olympic mountain bike competition. Any proposed course would not challenge the riders sufficiently, they said.

The decision will have come as a blow to London Organising Committee (Locog) but it appears that all may not be lost for the county that has produced sporting champions of the calibre of Sally Gunnell, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Sir Alf Ramsey.

Speaking exclusively to BikeRadar, the UCI’s Mountain Bike Sports Co-ordinator, Peter van den Abeele, said: “You don’t necessarily need to have real mountains to stage this event, it all depends on the course. The most important thing is to find a suitable venue and we will find one: that could be one and a  half or three hours' drive from London, but who says we cannot find a venue in Essex?”  

The options within the county are limited, however, with Epping Forest being seen as the only viable alternative to Weald Park. Mr van den Abeele said he would be returning to England in the next few weeks to look at other possible sites for the event, but remained tight-lipped on where they might be.

One option could be the Chilterns but maybe you’ve got your own suggestions – if so post them below.

User Comments

There are 10 comments on this post

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  • I would have thought I Welsh trail centre was a no brainer ?

  • "It'd need an act of Parliament or something to get it at Epping Forest - as organised sporting events are not allowed there as it's Corporation Of London-owned."

    Really?

    So how come there has been racing there in the past? OK it was 18 years ago but a Round of the Southend and County Wheelers Winter Series was held in the Forest.

    Also the forest is regularly used for orienteering competitions.

    The Epping Forest Act of 1878 created the forest as we know it for the recreation of the public, Olympic mountain biking seems to fit that definition.

    And getting a new Act of Parliament would not be so difficult, the Highways act was rewritten to allow the Tour de France to come to the UK in the '90s

  • They do keep going on about the Games being the London Games and not the UK games.

    But as everyone has pointed out there are some events that just cannot be held in the London area.

    I think the best place close to London would be Swinley Forest. With Great access from major roads surrounding it wouldn't need loads of new roads built. It also has a great network of fire roads for TV cameras, photographers, spectators etc.

  • It'd need an act of Parliament or something to get it at Epping Forest - as organised sporting events are not allowed there as it's Corporation Of London-owned. And, of course, its highest point is a mere 93 metres, so how they'd get a 300m difference in is beyond me.

  • Why don't we look at using the best courses that are used for the national races at the moment?! We should be show casing the best and toughest riding that the UK has to offer to challenge the elite riders and raise the profile of British mountain biking. They need to drop the idea of the even being as close to London as possible. This will also make it more accessible to everyone if the races were further a field.

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