In the picture, the wheel, handlebar and frame of a mountain bike can be appreciated. Is black and it has the suspension to participate in this discipline.
SPORTS

Mountain Bike

Cycling Mountain Bike is another of the disciplines within cycling and its main discipline is XCO or cross-country Olympic. It is run on a mountain and it is regulated by the World Cycling Centre.

Athletes go through a circuit with climbs, steep descents, technical sections, roads and trails, bridges, and natural and artificial obstacles in which skill and physical performance predominate.
At Santiago 2023, MTB will add points to the Olympic ranking towards Paris 2024.

In the picture, a male mountain bike cyclist is driving on a competition. He is using the Chilean uniform.

History of this sport

The origins of Mountain Bike were totally innocent. The MTB concept started to emerge in the 70s when a group of young cyclists from the north of California began to use their bikes in downhill races on Mount Tamalpais (California, U.S.A.).

They soon realized that the conditions of road bikes were not suitable for this type of competition and started to make them more resistant. With elements from other bikes and motorcycles, they created the “Klunkers” and with that, Mountain Bike as we know it today was born.

Gary Fischer made one of the most important contributions in the development of this sport by adding gears to his old Schwinn Excelsior. Today, he is a living cycling legend and one of the best bicycle designers. In 1963, he started to compete on asphalt and tracks and in 1963, he discovered Cyclocross. In 1968, he was suspended for having long hair and in 1972 he returned to competitions when the rule was lifted. In 1979, he created and sold 160 units of the first Mountain Bike in the world, along with his partner Charlie Kelly, which cost 1,300 dollars.

The first Mountain Bike World Championship was in 1990 in Durango, United States, and since then, the UCI has held it annually, while its Olympic debut was at Atlanta 1996.

In the picture, a male mountain bike cyclist is driving on a competition. He is using the Chilean uniform.

How do you play it?

Spectators can start getting ready for a competition filled with emotions. MTB XCO races are individual tests with mass starts. In these, skill, physical performance, competition planning or strategy, and an endless number of factors that allow athletes position themselves in the first places, where the first three in the category are given prizes, in approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes, following established turns. The distance of the circuit is normed between 4 and 6 kilometers per turn between climbs, planes, and descents, going through trails, wide roads, and technical sections. You won’t want to miss it!

Quiz

What clothing is essential to compete?

Check answer

Information for the community

Chile’s landscape is an advantage for practicing this sport. Mountains are all over the country, which is why we invite you to visit around the country and sightsee riding a bike. In Santiago, we have a good number of places to practice mountain bike. Among them, we can mention sector Las Varas, El Durazno Bike Park, San Cristóbal hill, El Panul Sector, San Carlos de Apoquindo hill, nature sanctuary, La Vacada farm, Macul Gorge, among many others. If you’re going to practice this sport, make sure you have the basic knowledge, like the functioning of your bike, having water and food with you at all the time to be able to enjoy the experience the best you can.

The first Olympic champions in mountain bike history were Bart Brentjens and the Italian Paola Pezzo.

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