London 2012 Olympics mountain bike race schedule set

The best cross country mountain bikers in the world will battle for Olympic Games medals on August 11 and 12, 2012. The organisers, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), revealed the competition schedule for the Hadleigh Farm, Essex, venue.

Mountain bikers will compete on the final weekend of the Olympic Games in front of 20,000 spectators per day.

The women will race for approximately two hours starting at 12:30 BST on Saturday, August 11, while the men will compete for about the same amount of time beginning at 13:30 BST on Sunday, August 12.

Tickets will be available for £45 and £20. Each person is limited to purchasing up to 10 tickets. There will be discounts for those aged 16 or under and those aged 60 and over (as of July 27, 2012). Applications to purchase Olympic Games tickets will be accepted starting on March 15, 2011.

The partially completed Olympic mountain bike course was revealed in October. Construction began in July and is expected to be finished in the spring of 2011. The venue consists of open, grassy hillsides and has few natural technical features.

A test event will be run on the new course this summer.