Liam Phillips (GBR) and Alise Post (USA) celebrated huge wins in Angelholm Sweden at the third round of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup. Not only did they win World Cup race number three of the season, they took over the leader plates from Mariana Pajon (COL) and Sam Willoughby (AUS) at the same time.

Willoughby made the podium in third place as he made a great high-low pass in the last corner to pass 2015 UCI World Champions Niek Kimmann (NED) who finished fourth wearing his rainbow jersey for the first time at a World Cup race. Australian Bodi Turner sneaked in his first World Cup SX podium by finishing less than a second behind Great Britain’s Liam Phillips in second.

Sweden got what they came for: BMX racing at its best. The top level is so close these days that anything can happen at any given moment. With points on the line heading into the 2016 Olympic Games, the pressure is building up for the countries to score as many points as possible. The wind died down a lot in the Sibirien BMX Arena in Angelholm which made racing possible and more enjoyable for the Men and Women alike. Many favourites were eliminated through the qualifying process but the classes are so packed that 8 strong riders lined up on the gate for the finals.

It was Lauren Reynolds (AUS) who picked gate number 8 for the Elite Trax Double Dice special. Winning from the outside lane is hard so picking lane 8 isn’t generally the favourite for any of the riders. But the double prize money for the win makes it a challenge which Lauren happily accepted. When the gate dropped in the final it was Alise Post (USA) who had the benefit of being on the inside. She held off Mariana Pajon (COL) going in the first turn. American Felicia Stancil was closing in behind the two finding a safe podium spot in third position. Post pushed Pajon a little high in the first turn giving Stancil and Stefany Hernandez (VEN) the chance to sneak in underneath and move into second and third position with Pajon dropping to third. Reynolds who had started on the outside got some great momentum from there and started passing riders left and right. She moved from 5th to 3rd in turn two behind Stancil and Post. The Americans crossed the finish line in first and second giving Post the win that she needed so badly.

“I came close to a win a few times so it feels good to finally get it worked out.” the Redline rider said. She continued: “I like this track and didn’t miss the jumps on the first straight once regardless of the wind all day. My final definitely wasn’t my prettiest lap, but it got the job done.” Post is now leading the UCI BMX SX World Cup standings with 545 points. Pajon follows in second (515 pts) and Stancil sits in third (490 pts).

The energy when the gate dropped in the Elite Men Final was felt in the stands at the Sibirien BMX Arena. With a lot of passing going on all weekend, getting the holeshot wasn’t automatically going to cut it. Liam Phillips left from lane one and dove into the first left hander in first followed by Australians Bodi Turner and Sam Willoughby. The 2015 Elite Men World Champion by the name of Niek Kimmann was close behind in fourth and started a high-low maneuver in turn one to gain speed for the pro section where he passed Sam Willoughby. Meanwhile Liam Phillips was building up a decent lead and Willoughby had an amazing third straight where he caught up with Niek Kimmann and Turner again. When Turner pushed Kimmann high in the last corner, Willoughby said thank you and passed Kimmann for a podium spot. It almost became a silver position when he got near Turner at the end of the track. First was for Phillips, second for Turner and third for Willoughby, a great podium for a great crowd at the Sibirien BMX Arena. BMX popularity in Sweden can only go up from here.