Cooper readies for his long-awaited Olympic mountain bike debut

Mountain Bike
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Anton Cooper is ready and excited for the biggest test of his mountain bike career at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday.

The 26-year-old Trek Factory professional is a former under-23 world champion and a Commonwealth Games gold medallist. Now he steps on to the biggest stage on a testing course in testing conditions at Izu, which is 150km south-west of Tokyo in the Shizuoka Prefecture.

“I will be out there to do my best, give a good showing for myself and represent the fern well on the Olympic stage,” said Cooper.

With a tough 4km course, expected blazing condition and high humidity, Cooper knows that it will be a massive challenge.

“I raced in the test event in 2019 and overall, it is a course that suits me. The steep, punchy climbs generally favour me but that said everyone is here in peak form; everyone is here on merit and are flying. Mountain bike is one of the hardest medals to win in the Olympic Games.

“Normally I race well in the heat so I am not concerned about the conditions, but see it as an advantage. That said it will still be brutally hot and humid.”

The circuit is perched beside the Izu Velodrome which will host track cycling starting next week, but it a beautiful forested region.

The course features two main rock gardens and is littered with steep, punchy climbs along with a number of off-camber sections. The recent dry conditions mean it is dusty and blown out.

However, it is the heat that may be the major factor.

“We need to manage the heat well – a lot of water splashed over us, ice in the pockets and pre-cooling with ice vests will be very important.”

An upside is that the riders will receive a lift that is not experienced by many Tokyo Olympians, with 6,500 fans to be admitted for the race.

Events held outside the Tokyo Prefecture are not subject to the same covid restrictions, with many thousands of fans along the route for the road race yesterday.

“We lucky having a big circuit and with a 4km lap then fans can spread out a bit more around here.

“We are lucky to be one of the sports with spectators. It always adds to the vibe and how much you can get out of yourself. When you hear that wall of noise it helps forget about that pain a little bit. Racing in front of a crowd is going to be exciting.”

The men’s race begins at 3pm local time with the women’s race on Tuesday.

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