A Quebec company has been awarded the contract to design the mountain bike trails for the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2025 World Championships in Switzerland.
Vélo Solutions has offices in Quebec and Switzerland and the mayor’s office is in France. The French office was chosen following a call for tenders from the French Olympic Committee and that is when the Quebec specialists came into play. The team in Quebec consists of 18 people who build cross country, downhill and pump track courses around the world.
Contracts were executed in 26 countries, particularly Indonesia and Costa Rica.
“Our French colleagues don’t have the expertise to build a race track,” explained the big man from Vélo Solutions in Quebec Serge Veuthey. It’s one thing to build a beautiful track, it’s another to build a track where athletes can thrive. You have to find the balance. We are responsible for the technical areas.”
Veuthey and his colleagues are very pleased to be working with the Paris Games. “It’s a lot of visibility and a lot of pride,” he said. Because it is a large structure, we don’t have 100% freedom, but we have built a lot of trust with the organizing committee.”
Veuthey traveled to Paris for the Mountain Bike World Cup, which served as a test event before the 2024 Games. “Everything went well at the test event and we will return to Paris soon to make adjustments and improve the coating.”
If everything went well in the City of Light, things became more difficult for the World Cup in Crans Montana, Switzerland. “The design of the courses didn’t start properly,” said Veuthey. The launch and refueling area was not wide enough. They hadn’t thought about several issues.”
Many years of expertise
Veuthey, technical director at Gestev for 20 years, is still involved in the Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup, even if the organization has completely changed this year. His group built the cross country and downhill trails.
“It’s good that there is this complete reshuffle as people can’t compare and it gives everyone a chance. All key positions are Gestev veterans who have not left.”
Important changes
Significant changes have been made to the routes for this 28th edition. “There’s a whole new section on the way down,” he explained. I think the route will be faster. We invest a lot of time and energy in a clean course. It hasn’t rained for a long time and the route is perfect.”
The cross-country skiing route has also been fundamentally revised. “There have been a lot of changes and the course is more compact. Length, difference in altitude and level of difficulty have not changed. It’s a unique journey with so many challenges and so spectacular.”
The Swiss-born Veuthey is happy that visitors can enjoy the colors of autumn. “We have held events in June and August, but the athletes have never seen these colors in almost 30 years.”