PIERRE Michelet acknowledged that he was “surprised to see so many falls” during today’s cross-country course, which was rated by many of the riders afterwards as one of the toughest Olympic courses they had ridden at or remembered.

Speaking at the press conference at the end of a dramatic day, which saw the team leaderboard shuffle after practically every rider, Michelet still regarded the course as “fair for everybody. There were a lot of run-outs and dramatic things, I was surprised to see so much falls.”