Absalon heads south to prepare for Beijing

Julien Absalon (Orbea), still clean at the start of the Bromont World Cup

Julien Absalon (Orbea), still clean at the start of the Bromont World Cup (Image credit: FJ Hughes)

French National Champion Julien Absalon (Team Orbea) has made up his mind about his final preparations for the Olympic mountain bike race coming up on August 23.

Absalon, who won gold in the cross country mountain bike race at the Olympics in Athens in 2004, will head to the south of France. He will contest the first two stages of L'Hexagonale VTT, August 8 in Vittel and August 11 in Ferté-Gaucher, as well as a road race in La Motte next Sunday according to AFP.

Absalon told Cyclingnews on Sunday at the UCI World Cup in Bromont that he would decide between staying home in the north of France or heading south. "I think it will be important to train in high temperatures," he had said. "It could be really hot in Beijing."

Absalon is coming off two confidence-building victories at the World Cups in Mont-Sainte-Anne and Bromont, Quebec, Canada.

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