Rio ready for Olympic mountain bike test

Rio de Janeiro: The last three Olympic men's mountain bike champions will be among the competitors at the sport's test event in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.

Some 88 cyclists from 32 countries will take part in the Aquece Rio International Mountain Bike Challenge, which will give riders a chance to earn world ranking points, reports Xinhua.

Among them are the Czech Republic's Jaroslav Kulhavy, who won the men's gold at the London 2012 Games, and France's Julien Absalon, who took gold at the Beijing 2008 and Athens 2004 Games. Swiss world champion Nino Schurter will also be in the field.

"A lot of the top riders are coming, so we expect a very high level of competition," event manager Paul Davis told Rio2016.com

The women's competition will include this year's world champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot of France, and Norway's 2004 Olympic champion Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa.

Located at the Deodoro Olympic Park, the course is 5.4 km long with the women's event consisting of six laps and the men's race seven laps.