Elites Moved from Reno to Louisville

It’s been in the rumor mill for a few weeks, but official word just came in to the BMX News nerve center that the UCI Class 5 race, originally slated for the ABA Blackjack Nationals in Reno will, instead, be run as part of the NBL Grand National in Louisville. More details will be coming out of Arizona on Monday, but this is what we know as of this hour:

Elite Men, Elite Women, Junior Men and Junior Women will race in Louisville on Friday, September 2 and Saturday September 3. The two races will count for UCI Class 5, *AND* 2011 ABA Pro Series points (for riders competing in the ABA Pro Series).

The ABA Blackjack Nationals in Reno on Saturday, September 3 and Sunday September 4 will have classes for A Pro and Vet Pro. Vets will receive points just like any other ABA Pro race in Reno.

The NBL Grands will have “Masters” class, and the Equivalent of ABA A-Pro (which, we’ll admit, after all the jumble this year in the NBL pro ranks, we don’t quite know what that class is called at this point). Masters class in Louisville will NOT count for ABA Vet points.

It has been clear, in discussions with USA BMX leadership, that they want the “last NBL grands” to be a very special event, and News encourages everyone to beat feet to Louisville if you’re not going to Reno, as it will be one for the historybooks!

This change affects only Elite and Jr. Elite classes. All other classes at the two races will run as-normal.

As noted above, more on this from USA BMX on Monday, so stay tuned!

*Thanks to BA Anderson and Shannon Gillette for this advance info!