There was no rest for Team Wiggle’s Lee Williams over the festive period but he had no complaints after being given a sneak preview of the London 2012 Olympic cross-country course.

Work on Hadleigh Farm, Essex, was called to a halt for three hours while Williams raced his Focus Raven 1.0 mountain bike around the course.

Bikemagic toured the 5.1km track in October – here’s what we thought – and Williams revealed it flows well with “fast hard pack and many tight switchbacks… many hours of hard work have created a world class venue for a world class event.”

He added: “I’d been feeling ill and was just falling asleep thinking about how bad I’d felt on the bike that day when I was awoken by a phone call from the head organiser of the Olympic mountain bike event.

“I could hardly believe it – he explained they would like me to test the Olympic course and provide feedback about it when ridden at pace. Despite being ill, I knew this was too good an opportunity to waste and I had to go.”

Williams is now treasuring the data he recorded on his Garmin and head cam and is keeping it under wraps to give himself an advantage over competitors should he be selected for the British team come 2012.

“I’m really grateful to have had the chance to test a course of such importance and feel this visit will hugely enhance my training and preparation in my bid to achieve my Olympic goal,” he said.

“I expect to be in good enough shape to be selected for the Games and all my training from now until then is based on that very goal.”