PARIS - Reigning Olympic mountain bike champion Tom Pidcock commented on Friday that he thought the course for this year's tournament could have been tougher.

The British rider, who will also compete in the cycling road race, said he thought the course at Elancourt Hill, around 35 kilometers from the city center was "bland" and lamented that the organizers had now made a "more mountain bike course."

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Pidcock competes on July 29, a day after the women's race and the 24-year-old told a press conference that "we love mountain biking for the reasons that drive us to enjoy it for what it is. That's the courses you get to ride, the places you get to go to."

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"When you just gravel over a nice hillside, it's not really mountain bike," he added, although he admitted that it was "not the best course in the world, but it's the same for everyone".