Day one of second round of UCI BMX Supercross World Cup finished in rainy conditions

PAPENDAL, Netherlands. 10 May, 2014- With the entire BMX Elite present at the Olympic Training grounds in the Netherlands for the second round of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup, the original program had to be changed early in the day due to rainy and wet weather conditions. With the second practice moved to the afternoon, riders waited for a dry moment to get back on the track. In addition to the extra training session, the qualification motos and Time Trial finals were also on the schedule for Saturday. A close watch of the weather forecast was kept all day to see when the racing could take place.

This year, the World Cup in Papendal includes more than the BMX SX racing action and has grown into a bike festival event. There were many cycling-related activities throughout the day and many sponsors had booths and tents displaying their latest products. This kept crowds entertained while waiting for the sky to clear, which it did towards the end of the day to the delight of fans in attendance and the riders who traveled from all around the world to compete in Papendal.

The qualifying motos were well received by both the riders and the public. It gave the current men’s top 16 riders three motos to qualify in the top 48. The women had to make it to the top 24 in three races to join Sunday’s pre-qualified top eight. The racing at the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup events is spectacular to say the least, and Saturday’s performances were no exception. The wet turns kept riders on their toes, as staying upright was important to advance to the main program on Sunday. Twan van Gendt (NED), Sam Willoughby (AUS) and Niek Kimmann (NED) were the top qualifiers with three wins each. With five Dutch riders in the top seven, it seems the home track played in the favor of the local male riders. Merle van Benthem (NED) was the top qualifier in the women’s class, making the qualifying process a success for the “Orange Army”.

The top 16 riders in the men’s class and top 8 finishers in the women’s class from the first World Cup round in Manchester, England, got to ride a single-lap Time Trial final. The women were up first with Laura Smulders (NED) in the hot seat the longest, setting a time of 39.185 seconds. American Brooke Crain came closest to beating her with a time of 40.149 until, with only one rider to go, Smulders’ time was beat by World Champion Caroline Buchanan with a smooth run of 39.166, just 0.019 seconds faster.

Buchanan explained: “Today was probably the longest day I’ve spent at a BMX track but the show went on which was good for the athletes who traveled from all over the world but also the organizers. The track held up fine and tomorrow seems like it’s going to be a good day.” When asked if she was nervous being the last rider up and having to beat a fast time, she said: “I was a little bit nervous because I was eyeing up the triple and watched the wind and chose lane six, which seemed to have the driest lane on the track, and it worked out.”

In the men’s class, several riders sat in the hot seat after setting the fastest time on the Papendal track. Edzus Treimanis (LAT) had the fastest time for a long period, but was unfortunately disqualified due to not having his transponder attached to his bike. It was a disappointment for the rider from Latvia, but it moved Joris Daudet of France up one spot. The Time Trials win was his, beating Liam Phillips’ time by 0.180 seconds. The Brit got second and Time Trials World Champion Connor Fields (USA) clocked the third fastest time. After a long day of waiting, Joris Daudet was happy with the win and is looking forward to tomorrow’s racing for the fans.

Sunday’s UCI BMX Supercross World Cup event will take place as scheduled, weather permitting. Watch it live at www.BMXLIVE.tv

Final Results of Men’s Time Trials

1 P 33 DAUDET Joris FRA 38.949 0.000
2 1 PHILLIPS Liam GBR 39.129 +0.180
3 P 11 FIELDS Connor USA 39.642 +0.693
4 P 24 SHARRAH Corben USA 39.783 +0.834
5 P 120 PELLUARD Vincent FRA 39.784 +0.835
6 P 373 BLANC Renaud SUI 40.022 +1.073
7 P 500 REZENDE Renato BRA 40.037 +1.088
8 P 278 RAMIREZ YEPEZ Carlos Alberto COL 40.084 +1.135
9 P 211 EVANS Kyle GBR 40.300 +1.351
10 P 95 NOBLES Barry USA 40.410 +1.461
11 P 279 JONES Trent NZL 40.726 +1.777
12 P 144 DEAN Anthony AUS 40.895 +1.946
13 P 187 GARCIA Jared USA 41.137 +2.188
14 P 777 WILLERS Marc NZL 42.103 +3.154
15 5 NYHAUG Tory CAN DNF
P 127 TREIMANIS Edzus LAT

Final Results of Women’s Time Trials

1 1 BUCHANAN Caroline AUS 39.166 0.000
2 P 110 SMULDERS Laura NED 39.185 +0.019
3 P 32 CRAIN Brooke USA 40.149 +0.983
4 P 210 CHRISTENSEN Simone DEN 40.332 +1.166
5 P 91 VANHOOF Elke BEL 41.432 +2.266
6 P 101 GREEN Charlotte GBR 42.741 +3.575
7 P 469 HERNANDEZ Stefany VEN 1:08.938 +29.772
8 P 105 CORLOBE Pauline FRA DNF