BMX News & Racing Roundup for April 10, 2007Edited by Greg Johnson Madrid World Cup track uncoveredBy Greg Johnson
Organisers have released images of the BMX track that will be used for the opening round of the UCI Supercross World Cup in Madrid, Spain, this weekend. The temporary track is currently under construction inside the Juan Carlos 1 Auditorium and is expected to be completed by tomorrow in time for the world cup round. "The track layout is awesome, the dirt fantastic and the start ramp rocks," said an enthusiastic Johan Lindstrom, the UCI's BMX coordinator. "Should be a good one!" The world's best riders will lineup for this weekend's event, which is expected to be watched with close eyes by national cycling federation representatives due to the sports inclusion in next year's Olympic Games. With the sport set to make its debut at the games in Beijing next year, the upcoming world cup season will play an important role in judging and preparing riders for the ultimate in international competition. While rain has intrupted the Madrid track's construction in the build up to the April 14-14 event, the forecast for the weekend should make for some good racing. "They are dealing with some showers at the moment," noted Lindstrom, "but it looks fine for the weekend." PhotographyFor a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here Images by www.uci.ch
Reade takes BMX downtime to claim track gold
Redline's Shanaze Reade has taken a month of BMX racing to rack-up some credentials in track cycling at the World Championships in Spain. The 18 year-old rider claimed gold in the women's team sprint with British teammate Victoria Pendleton. "In Spain, I competed in team sprint and the 500 time trial," Shanaze explains. "Both events went really good for me and I became World Champion in the team sprint, along with my teammate Victoria Pendleton. For the 500, there were 25 girls entered and I was second up to race. I posted a time of 34.6; which surprised me and a lot of other people. It was a good enough time to finish fifth in the world. "The 4 girls in front of me were a world champ, an Olympic champ, world cup leader and a world record holder," she pointed out. "So I was extremely happy to place fifth and only be 1,000ths from getting bronze." The event was only Reade's second track event, after making her debut at the Manchester Track World Cup round where she finished second to Dutch pairing of Yvonne Hijgenaar and fellow BMX rider Willy Kanis in the women's team sprint. Shanaze will be back on her Redline Flight Pro XL BMX and plans to start hitting the dirt surfaced tracks. The six-race European Championship series kicks off April 21st in Belguim, where Reade will be going after her ninth Euro Champ title. Adelaide world cup track mirrors Olympic design
BMX Australia has announced the design of the Adelaide track which will be used in the 2008 UCI-BMX Supercross World Cup will be similar to that recently unveiled for the Beijing Olympic Games. The world cup round, to be held on April 11-12, 2008, will be the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere and will be a preview for riders intending to compete at the first BMX event at the Beijing Olympics in August. "The Supercross only applies to elite and it carries bonus UCI ranking points and gives the Australians the opportunity to go up against the world's best in their own backyard," said event coordinator Graham Arnold. The Adelaide Supercross track will be built by the UCI track builder Tom Ritzenthaler and will use similar specifications to the Olympic track. It will be constructed in the Jubilee Pavillion at the Adelaide Showgrounds. The UCI Supercross event is intended to assist BMX riders in the southern hemisphere to compete in a series which, until now, has only been held in the northern hemisphere, usually in Europe and America. Adelaide has also been allocated as the location for the 2009 World Championship in July. With the Supercross in 2008 and World Championships in 2009 in Adelaide BMX is now well placed with other cycling events such as the Tour Down Under. "This just reinforces that Adelaide is the cycling capital of Australia with the support to hold major cycling events there," said Arnold. Cycling BC announces BMX Pre-World ChampionshipsCycling British Columbia has announced it will hold a 'Pre-World Championships' on July 20-21 at the Abbotsford BMX track, in Canada. The event, held with the cooperation of the Canadian Cycling Association, will be a lead up event to the 2007 World BMX Championships, to be held in Victoria, British Columbia. The two events will feature over 1000 of the top BMX riders from over 40 countries. In the past, the pre-world event has been held at the same venue as the world championship, however new UCI rules state that they now must be held at a separate track. The Abbotsford Track successfully hosted the 2006 Canadian National Championships. It will undergo a variety of improvements to provide riders and spectators the best possible experience. Registration forms for the pre worlds championships are available from www.cyclingbc.net. Willer heads to Spain with NZ titleMarc Willer has left New Zealand en route to Spain for this weekend's Supercross World Cup round with his country's national champion's jersey. The Kiwi rider set off for Europe on Monday, a matter of days after taking victory at last Saturday's New Zealand National BMX Championships, where he fended off local and trans-Tasman rivals to win the event, and collect the country's national champion jersey. Willer has been joined on the trip to Europe by national BMX coach Grant White. The pair will be joined later this month by new elite women's national champion Sarah Walker for the opening two European BMX Championship rounds in Belgium on April 21-22. Walker also fended off strong charges from her Australian rivals at last week's championships to win the women's category. The victories by Willer and Walker on the weekend marked the first time that New Zealand have won both elite classes in a UCI BMX continental round. For results from the New Zealand National BMX Championships, click here. Madill gets unlucky break at Sarasota
Australian BMX rider Luke Madill had a tough time at the NBL Gator National event in Sarasota, Florida on March 31, which resulted in a broken finger. After a strong run during Saturday's racing at the event, Madill crashed awkwardly on Sunday, breaking his finger and finishing in last position as a result. The Australian wasn't the only rider to come out of Sarasota with injuries, with Colombia's Fabian Hernandez out of action after breaking his tibia, while Ryan Zielinski broke his collar bone and was rushed to hospital with internal bleeding. Zielinski looks set to be sidelined for at least five weeks, with surgery a possibility if the bone doesn't heal correctly. For full results from the NBL Gator National, click here. Former BMX World Champion takes Easter spoilsBy 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, at the NBL Easter Classic last weekend. 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. For results from the NBL Easter Classic, click here. Disney to hold ABA BMX Nationals and cup racesThe American Bicycle Association has signed a multi-year agreement with Disney Sports Attractions to host National BMX races. The events will be held at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The first event, the Fall Nationals, will be held October 25-28, 2007 and is just the first of several events planned for the Disney Sports complex. "The ABA is excited to partner with Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex," said ABA president Clayton John. "BMX has continued to grow and offering events that are destination driven are a natural progression. Our members will see the ABA continue to work with Disney over the coming years to provide magical races in Florida!" Disney's Wide World of Sports complex will provide an unique location that has never before been experienced in the sport of BMX. The 220-acre sports complex host over 180 professional and amateur sporting events each year. The variety of events include major league baseball, tennis, marathons, soccer and even paintball. The sport of BMX is one of the very first "Action Sports" to host a national level event at this site. "BMX racing is one of the hottest emerging sports in America, making this ABA event a perfect fit among the growing list of nationally-recognized sports events taking place at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex," said Disney's Kellen Winslow. "Bringing this action sports event to our complex represents another step in our commitment to broaden the variety of prestigious sports events we're able to offer athletes and guests. (All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2007) |
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