Britain's hopes for XC MTB Olympic glory

By David Arthur

On Saturday 23 August Brits Liam Killeen and Oli Beckingsale will be flying the MTB flag for Team GB and hoping to bring home the medals.

The women's MTB race goes ahead on Friday 22 August, but with Britain's women ranking too low to win places in the Olympic race, all eyes will be on Killeen and Beckingsale.

National Champion Liam Killeen will be hoping to improve upon his 5th place in Athens 2004, and has come back strong after a mystery virus two years ago knocked him off his training plan. Several strong races recently (4th at the World Champs) and winning the National Champs will have boosted his confidence, and the Malvern born rider will head into the race brimming with confidence.

Oli Beckingsale, competitor at two Olympics previously - Sydney and Athens - will be looking to make his third Olympic appearance for Britain one to remember. He said: “It's great to be selected, and a relief! This will be my third Olympic Games and I believe it will be my best by a long way. In the last few years I've been riding better than ever and I believe I will produce a personal best performance at these Games.”

If Killeen and Beckingsale hope to win a medal, they're up against some strong competition, with the likes of Switzerland's Christoph Suaser and France's Julien Absalon as arguably the riders most likely to be doing battle for that coveted gold medal.

The Laoshan course is 4.6km in length and makes use of the natural landscape of Laoshan Mountain and while it'll provide little in the way of a technical challenge, it will most certainly be extremely quick. There's more about the course on the official Olympic Games site.

Tune your televisions to BBC1 at 8.30am on Saturday 23 August at for live coverage (check TV listings nearer the time to be safe though...)

www.liamkilleen.com

www.olibeck.com

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