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NBL Easter Classic - C3
Orlando, Florida, USA, April 7, 2007
Former World Champion Kyle Bennett returns to top form!
By Derek Novaes in Orlando, Florida
Kyle Bennett, the former UCI BMX World Champion, returned to the top of the podium with a win in Orlando, Florida. Just a few months after knee surgery, plus an intense knee rehabilitation, Kyle has come back to top form to add some more challenges to the other top elite riders in the world. With riders coming from all over the world, from as far as Latvia, Australia, Argentina, Great Britain, Colombia, Canada, Japan, and Czech Republic, the USA riders proved that their is still room for improvement prior to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. Kyle proudly carried the red, white and blue across the finish line with an enthusiastic "Yeah," as he punched the air with his fist.
Along with 32 other riders, Kyle rode through the qualifying rounds with consistent finishes in all of his moto, quarters and semi final rides. The track was long and exhausting and Kyle's conditioning became an important factor to pull in the win.
The main rave had a plethora of countries being represented. Arturs Matisons from Latvia pulled a second place, and Australia's Jared Graves, a mountain bike champion, round the top three spots.
America's Donny Robinson rode hard to maintain his fourth place finish while fellow countryman Mikey Day wasn't in his usual rhythm and settled for fifth place. Australia's Khalen Young, who has been in the United States in a BMX tour of sorts, made his homeland proud by making yet another main event and crossing the line in sixth.
Michal Prokop earned himself yet another patch of respect by maintaining incredible consistency while riding in the US and finishing seventh and last place in the final went to the famous Robert "Afro-Bob" DeWilde from the Netherlands.
Meanwhile in elite women, Argentina's Gabriela Diaz nearly pulled a repeat of last weeks' performance in Sarasota, Florida. However, Jana Kora'Kova of the Czech Republic, edged out Diaz at the line for the win.
Canadian Samantha Cools found herself in third as she crossed the line with the Czech Republic's Aneta Hladi' Kova and America's Kim Hayashi not far behind. Stephanie Barragan, Krystal Hime and Rachel Smith finished off the top Elite Women riders in the main event.
Results
Elite men 1 Kyle Bennette 2 Arturs Matison 3 Jared Graves 4 Donny Robinson 5 Mikey Day 6 Khalen Young 7 Michal Prokop 8 Robert DeWilde Elite women 1 Jana Kona'Kova 2 Gabriela Diaz 3 Samatha Cools 4 Aneta Hladi'Kova 5 Kim Hayashi 6 Stephanie Barragan 7 Krystal Hime 8 Rachel Smith Junior women 1 Amanda Geving 2 Erika Short 3 Sinead Miller 4 Amanda Carr 5 Madison Pitts 6 Toni Rude
